In the history of contemporary

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, the death of

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

on 20 November 1975 marked the beginning of the

Spanish transition to democracy Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, the establishment of the

parliamentary monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

and the subsequent accession of King

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

to the throne. In 1978, the current

Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...

was signed and the status of Spain's autonomous entities (''autonomías'') was defined.

Road to elections (1975–1977)

In the uncertainty after Franco's death, the political situation could have taken one of three turns: * Continuity of the previous, authoritarian regime. This idea was backed by Franco's government officials, (the "bunker"), high-ranking military officers and numerous veterans of . * A complete overhaul of the previous system. Sectors of the opposition who supported this move assembled as the . However, fearing a reaction from the military, other members of the opposition preferred concessions with the previous regime, thus creating the . * A gradual reform of the previous system and the introduction of a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. This idea was championed by the King, who had a minority of followers. In his coronation speech, the King had opened the possibility for reform along the lines of constitutional monarchy. However, for this to be possible, high-ranking officials from the previous regime had to be ejected from power. The first act of the King was to name

Torcuato Fernández-Miranda Torcuato Fernández-Miranda y Hevia, 1st Duke of Fernández-Miranda (10 November 1915 – 19 June 1980) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who played important roles in both the Spanish State of Francisco Franco and in the Spanish transition ...

, his old teacher, as the President of the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...

and of the . This gave the King control over the Cortes and provided him with critical assistance to dismantle the old regime within a legal framework. Torcuato Fernández Miranda was despised by the

falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...

s and was a staunch supporter of reform. The new government included many "reformists" like

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Ambas ...

, who was the visible head of the government.

often argued with the opposition (even imprisoning leaders of the , a hybrid coalition of the and the ), whom he wanted to get out of the way. Fraga preferred "slow evolution" into democracy, unlike the King.

Carlos Arias Navarro Carlos Arias Navarro, 1st Marquis of Arias-Navarro (11 December 1908 – 27 November 1989) was one of the best-known Spanish politicians during the Francoist regime. Arias Navarro was a moderate leader in the last phase of Francoism and the be ...

consistently impeded the King's wishes of accelerating reform. As a result, the King had to get rid of him, as it seemed he had caved in under pressure from the ''bunker''. Muntatzaileen greba - 1977ko ekaina-abuztua -4

Muntatzaileen greba - 1977ko ekaina-abuztua -4

Whereas the King could not dismiss Arias Navarro based on still relevant laws from

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, in an interview with ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' on 26 April 1976, the King expressed his discontent with Arias. In June 1976, Arias signed his resignation.

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

took his place as the President of the Government on 3 July 1976. Suárez came from a

Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...

background, so as a result he could not count on the support of the old regime , the reformists or the opposition. After Fraga declined to participate in the new government, lesser known politicians formed the new Cabinet. Adolfo Suárez was a staunch supporter of the King's reform policies. As these events unfolded, a lesser amnesty was conceded to political prisoners of the old regime. Next, Suárez took it upon himself to reform the Cortes and to establish the legal framework for the elections. Suárez's new government wrote the

Political Reform Act The Political Reform Act (Act 1/1977, of 4 January, for the Political Reform)a popular referendum. An overwhelming majority approved the change (94% in favour). This law required the government to convoke

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, but it had to legalise political parties first. They were in fact legalised soon after, with the limitation that their manifestos had to abide by the law. On 23 March 1977, the laws regulating elections were published in the , thus officially coming into effect. A wide amnesty was also proclaimed on 17 March. Violence was not uncommon. The most striking event was the

1977 Atocha massacre The 1977 Atocha massacre was an attack by right-wing extremists in the center of Madrid on January 24, 1977, which saw the assassination of five labor activists from the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the workers' federation ''Comisiones ...

, where five people working for (a trade union affiliated to the Communist Party) were murdered by right-wing extremists. There was also violence from left-wing groups, like

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

(which continued to campaign violently for the independence of the Basque Country) or new groups like

GRAPO The First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups ( es, Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre, GRAPO) was a Spanish clandestine Marxist–Leninist group aiming for the formation of a Spanish Republican state. Besides its anti- ...

, a Maoist group, or MPAIAC, a

Canarian Canary Islanders, or Canarians ( es, canarios), are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of European settlers and abo ...

independence group. The

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...

was legalised on Holy Saturday (9 April) to prevent the military from reacting. This led to the resignation of the Minister of the Navy and an Army General.

Santiago Carrillo Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. His role in the Paracu ...

, the Communist Party Secretary, had renounced

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

and the Republican flag. On 14 May, don Juan de Borbón renounced his rights to the throne in favour of

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

in La Zarzuela. Shortly after, Torcuato Fernández-Miranda resigned due to political differences with

. Fernández Miranda wanted to establish a system similar to that of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with a centre-left and a centre-right party alternating in power. The

1977 Spanish general election The 1977 Spanish general election was held on Wednesday, 15 June 1977, to elect the Spanish Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 207 seats in the Senate. It was the first ...

, which took place on 15 June 1977, produced the following results for

Spanish Congress The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

: * Union of the Democratic Centre (), a centre-right party led by Suárez obtained 166 seats *

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(), a centre-left party, obtained 118 seats. *

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

(), a left-wing party, obtained 20 seats. * People's Alliance (), right-wing party, formed by ex-Francoists and led by

, obtained 16 seats. * Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya (), centre-right Catalan party, obtained 11 seats. *

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

(), centre-right Basque party obtained 8 seats. * Other parties, including left-wing Basque and Catalan separatists, Christian democrats and extreme left-wing parties obtained 11 seats.

The Spanish Constitution (1978)

After the elections, it was necessary to write up a constitution for the new Spain. Since the 1931 constitution was republican and now Juan Carlos I was appointed king by Franco, a new one was necessary. The pre-constitutional project was written up by a commission consisting of deputies of all main political groups except PNV. After several months of discussion, a consensus was reached between several parties, and the Constitution was sent to the Cortes for approval. After this, it was put on a referendum on 6 December 1978 and was approved by 58% of the total census, with an 8% negative vote and 33% abstention. It was signed by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

on 27 December and took effect after its publication in the Spanish

BOE BOE, BoE or Boe may refer to: Abbreviations, acronyms or initialisms * Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom * Bank of English, a representative subset of the 4.5 billion words COBUILD corpus * Barrel of oil equivalent, a uni ...

(Official State Bulletin) on 29 December 1978. The constitution granted the right for historical communities to form autonomous regions in Spain. The first regions to do this were the Basque Country and

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, and soon after other regions joined, making up the modern map of Spain. This was widely criticised by the army and by right wing groups, which thought the unity of Spain was compromised, and it is still a source of argument today.

The dissolution of UCD and the 23-F (1979–1982)

In November 1978, information services had been alerted to a possible coup d'état whose objective was to form a "National Salvation" government and arrest Suárez. This was called Operación Galaxia. The

1979 Spanish general election The 1979 Spanish general election was held on Thursday, 1 March 1979, to elect the 1st Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 208 seats in the Senate. This was the ...

had the following results for the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

: * UCD: 168 seats * PSOE: 121 seats * PCE: 23 seats * CD: 9 seats * CiU: 8 seats * PNV: 7 seats * Others: 14 seats CD was the new name for Fraga's Alianza Popular, and CiU was a coalition of conservative Catalan parties. UCD was a conglomerate party with many factions, as it was built from the existing government by Adolfo Suárez. This conglomerate started showing divisions with the arguments about laws on divorce and especially in the autonomous statutes. The pressure from opposing factions and from the opposition wore down Adolfo Suárez until he resigned from the party and also resigned from his position as President of the Government. Suárez publicly announced his resignation in TVE, on 25 June 1981. This was a surprise for most people, as it was a completely unexpected move from Suárez. The next UCD congress in February took place amongst great tension.

Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo (; 14 April 1926 – 3 May 2008), usually known as Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, was Prime Minister of Spain between 1981 and 1982. Early life and career Calvo-Sotelo was b ...

was voted candidate for the Presidency of the Government for UCD and was to be invested President on 23 February. On the day of his investiture,

Antonio Tejero Antonio Tejero Molina (born 30 April 1932) is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most prominent figure in the failed coup d'état against the newly democratic Spanish government on 23 February 1981. Career Tejer ...

broke into the Congress and held all deputies at gunpoint in an attempted coup d'état. The army's discontent was caused because of the autonomous statutes which they thought compromised Spain's unity. However, this coup d'état failed because the King called for the military powers to obey legal civilian authority. The next morning, Tejero surrendered, and the democracy was saved. In October 1981, entry to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

was approved in Congress with the open opposition of left-wing groups. The Socialist Party PSOE, the main opposition party, promised a referendum on NATO if it (PSOE) got into government. New elections were called in which the UCD suffered a heavy loss, giving PSOE a huge majority in both the Senate and the Congress of Deputies. PSOE during this time also abandoned Marxist ideology in favour of more moderate tendencies. The massive gain of CP, led by

, was caused by the disappearance of UCD from the political spectrum. Results of the

1982 Spanish general election The 1982 Spanish general election was held on Thursday, 28 October 1982, to elect the 2nd Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate. The el ...

for

were: * PSOE: 202 seats * CP: 106 seats * CiU: 12 seats * UCD: 12 seats * PNV: 8 seats * PCE: 4 seats * Others: 6 seats The PSOE was the first party to rule over Spain with a majority in the history of Spain's democracy. The transition to democracy was said to be completed here because a centre-left party took over the government from a centre-right party with no consequences.

Spain under Felipe González (1982–1996)

Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...

became Prime Minister (''Presidente del Gobierno'' in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

) after PSOE's victory in the elections. PSOE at that time, though it had renounced its Marxist ideology, still had a populist current, led by Alfonso Guerra, as opposed to a neo-liberal one, led by Miguel Boyer. This would cause divisions in the party which would not show up until years later. In González's first term, several measures were adopted, but with moderation – something that contrasted with their program, which was much more radical. The main bills passed in this period were legalized abortion, increased personal freedoms, and a reorganization of the education in Spain. In addition, however, this period marked the appearance of the

Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación GAL (an acronym for ''Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación'', "Antiterrorist Liberation Groups") were death squads illegally established by officials of the Spanish government to fight against ETA, the principal Basque separatist militant gro ...

(GAL), mercenary counter-terrorist forces organised and paid by the government which assassinated various terrorists, and the expropriation of RUMASA, a trust operated by a member of

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

. Also during this period, Spain joined the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

, and a referendum (as promised by PSOE) was called on Spain remaining in

on 12 March 1986. This time, however, the socialists campaigned in favour of NATO, the parties to the left of PSOE campaigned against NATO, and the right, led by

, campaigned for abstention. In the referendum, the Spanish population opted to remain in NATO with a 52.2% vote in favour, but with considerable abstention. The

1986 Spanish general election The 1986 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 22 June 1986, to elect the 3rd Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate. The election ...

was called on 28 June 1986 for both chambers. * PSOE: 184 seats * CP: 105 seats * CDS: 19 seats * CiU: 18 seats * IU: 7 seats * PNV: 6 seats * HB: 5 seats * Others: 6 seats PSOE maintained its majority in both chambers, but it lost some seats, and CDS, the new centre party led by Adolfo Suárez, became the third party. Izquierda Unida (IU) is a conglomerate of left-wing parties led by the PCE. Lastly,

Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; en, Popular Unity; HB) was a far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale, left-wing, socialist, and supported the independence of the Greater Basque Country. It was r ...

(HB) is a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

separatist political party, recently banned for its ties to

. PSOE's majority meant it could pass laws without the need for consensus between all the political parties. So, there was great stability, but there was no real parliament debate. There was practically no political opposition, but a social opposition started growing in the end of the 80s, consisting of two fronts: the student front, and the syndicalist front. This last front exerted a great amount of pressure, even calling for a general strike on 14 December 1988, due to the liberalizing of the economic policies. On this day, eight million Spaniards did not go to work, which accounted for 90% of the total work force in Spain. Faced with these problems, PSOE had to call for elections one year earlier, on 29 October 1989. The results of the 1989 Spanish general election were: * PSOE: 175 seats * PP: 107 seats * CiU: 18 seats * IU: 17 seats * CDS: 14 seats * PNV: 5 seats * HB: 4 seats * Others: 10 seats PSOE stood just on the border of the majority now (175 seats of 350), but it was able to pass laws because of the absence of HB's deputies. People's Party (PP) was the new name for CP, and it became consolidated as the second largest party. From 1991, PSOE started losing its urban vote in favour of PP, adding this to various scandals: the FILESA case, an organization built to illegally raise funds for PSOE, influence peddling and prevarication cases, internal divisions between the populist and the liberal currents started showing up. Under these conditions, the

1993 Spanish general election The 1993 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 6 June 1993, to elect the 5th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 256 seats in the Senate. The Spanish S ...

was called on 6 June 1993 with the following results: * PSOE: 159 seats * PP: 141 seats * IU: 18 seats * CiU: 17 seats * PNV: 5 seats * CC: 4 seats * Others: 6 seats PSOE managed to achieve a relative majority despite all the corruption and scandals. However, it had to draw a deal with CiU, a Catalan centre-right party. This caused frequent tensions and accusations from the opposition that PSOE was giving more money and power to Catalonia in exchange for CiU's support. Coalicion Canaria (CC) was formed by a conglomerate of liberal

regionalist parties. This legislature was a failure due to the vulnerability to the continuous attacks from the opposition and new corruption scandals – the most famous one was the

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

's director, Luis Roldán. Facing this, PSOE had to call for early elections on 3 March 1996. The result of the 1996 Spanish general election was: * PP: 156 seats * PSOE: 141 seats * IU: 21 seats * CiU: 16 seats * PNV: 5 seats * Others: 7 seats PP won these elections and was able to enter the government after acquiring support from the various Catalan,

and

groups.

Spain under José María Aznar (1996–2004)

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

became prime minister of Spain thanks to the support from CiU, PNV, and CC. During his first term, his main objective was an economic policy to allow convergence with the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

, and several public enterprises were privatized. In the 2000 Spanish general election on 12 March 2000, the PP obtained a majority of seats: *PP: 183 seats *PSOE: 125 seats *CiU: 15 seats *IU: 8 seats *PNV: 7 seats In his second term, without needing the support from the autonomic parties, Aznar was able to apply his party's program more freely, but not without controversy. Again, the government's focus was on economy, and some of its reforms were strongly criticized by the syndicates. The economic policy caused an increase in the price of

butane Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name but ...

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

, and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, that led to an increase in the price of other goods that increased with the arrival of euro. The most controversial aspects of this second term were: * The 2002 general strike (due to the labour policies) * The reform of university studies by decree * The application of the National Hydrologic Plan (which included several transfers, being the most important the one from the river

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

to south-eastern Spain). * The ill-managed accident of the oil carrier Prestige, which caused a big oil spill in the Galician coast. * Support of the US-led

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

against public opinion, even sending soldiers there. Aznar is also said to have had a more tense relationship with the King, unlike his predecessor, whose friendship with the King still lasts today. One of the most peculiar events of his second term was when Spain and Morocco had some disagreements about

Perejil Island Perejil Island ( es, Isla de Perejil, ber, Tura or , ar, تورة, translit=Tūra), also known as Parsley Island, is a small, uninhabited rocky islet located off the coast of Morocco. It is administered by Spain as one of the '' plazas de ...

, an island with an area less than a square kilometer, near the coast of Morocco. Morocco brought some forces to that island. After some days of diplomatic conversations, Morocco didn't withdraw the few troops that were there. Finally, Spain brought a helicopter and some troops to the island, and drove them back to Morocco. Even though Spanish laws do not limit the terms in office of a President, Aznar voluntarily decided to not run for a third term. Interior Minister

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

was elected by his party as new leader. While initial polls gave him good chances of winning, the campaign's last weeks and the

Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's g ...

on 11 March 2004, just three days before elections took place, changed the tide of the vote. Internally and outwards, the attacks were seen as the result of Spain support to the US in the Iraq War. The

2004 Spanish general election The 2004 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 14 March 2004, to elect the 8th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. The electo ...

saw PSOE, led by

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

, win a plurality of seats in Congress of Deputies, and it was able to form a government with the support of minor parties. * PSOE: 164 seats * PP: 148 seats * CiU: 10 seats * ERC: 8 seats * PNV: 7 seats * IU: 5 seats * CC: 3 seats * BNG: 2 seats

Spain under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011)

Because he failed to secure a majority in the 2004 election,

became prime minister with the support of IU,

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...

(ERC) and

Canarian Coalition The Canarian Coalition ( es, Coalición Canaria, CC) is a regionalist, Canarian nationalist political party in Spain operating in the Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Span ...

(CC). This is not a coalition, however, and each law must be individually negotiated. As promised during the electoral campaign, Zapatero removed all Spanish soldiers from Iraq. His government also approved a same-sex marriage law for Spain. This law was supported by the majority of the Spanish population. However, the Roman Catholic Church and social conservatives, many of whom were associated with the Partido Popular, strongly opposed it. Unlike his predecessor, in the international arena Zapatero was more supportive of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. His relations with the United States became strained following the withdrawal of Spanish forces from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and the new relationship Zapatero built with two of the Iraq War's most vocal critics, France and Germany, until those countries elected new leaders. As Zapatero had vocally supported the incumbents, he strained relationships with the new leaders.

Spain under Mariano Rajoy (2011–2018)

Further information: Premiership of Mariano Rajoy

became prime minister after his party gained a majority in the 2011 elections. His tenure has been marked by the continuation of the financial crisis and the application of harsh

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

measures and spending cuts, as well as the adoption of a new labor law reform in early 2012 which resulted in 2 general strikes that year. The eruption of a major party illegal financing scandal has eroded his government's popularity. In 2014, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the planned abdication of King

, saying Prince Felipe was well prepared to be the next King of Spain. During the term of Rajoy,

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

declared the independence of

amid the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis and the 2017 Barcelona-Cambrils terrorist attacks. In May 2018, Mariano Rajoy was defeated in a no-confidence vote in parliament, meaning Socialist leader

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

took over as Spain's new prime minister.

Spain under Pedro Sánchez (2018-present)

On 2 June 2018, The leader of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Pedro Sánchez was sworn in as the country's new prime minister by King Felipe. As an atheist, Sánchez took the oath to protect the constitution without a bible or crucifix - a first in Spain's modern history. In November 2019, Socialist Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez won the highest number of seats but fell short of an absolute majority in the parliamentary election. The conservative Popular Party (PP) was the second, but far-right group Vox got the most significant rise. In January 2020, after months of political stalemate, Pedro Sánchez formed the first coalition government since the return to democracy in the 1970s. Sánchez formed a coalition with Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the smaller and more left-wing

Unidas Podemos Unidas Podemos (), formerly called Unidos Podemos () and also known in English as United We Can, is a democratic socialist electoral alliance formed by Podemos, United Left, and other left-wing to far-left parties in May to contest the 2016 Spa ...

party.

Society

References

External links

Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy and After, 1975–2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Spain (1975-present)

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

20th century in Spain 21st century in Spain