The People's Democratic Party ( es, Partido Demócrata Popular, PDP) was a Spanish political party of

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, integrated in the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). Its president was Fernando Chueca, and his Secretary General was Ignacio Camuñas.

History

The party was founded by Ignacio Camuñas in December 1974 on the basis of the Circle of Studies New Generation ( es, Círculo de Estudios Nueva Generación), created in 1972. By 1976 the party was part of the

Democratic Convergence Platform The Democratic Convergence Platform ( es, Plataforma de Convergencia Democrática, PCD) was a Spanish organization that coordinated various pro-democracy parties, unions and associations (all illegal) towards the end of Francoist Spain. History O ...

and

Democratic Coordination Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, but withdrew from the latter in June of that same year. On 24 September 1976, together with

Democratic Left of Catalonia Democratic Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Democràtica de Catalunya, EDC) was a political party in Catalonia (Spain). EDC was founded in 1975 as the Catalan Liberal Party ( ca, Partit Liberal Català), and ideologically it defined itself as " rad ...

, the Social-Liberal Coalition was established. Fernando Chueca Goitia, founder of the

Spanish Social Democratic Union Spanish Social Democratic Union ( es, Unión Social Demócrata Española; USDE) was a social-liberal political party in Spain that opposed the Francoist State and wanted a liberal democracy in Spain. The USDE was founded in 1974 by Dionisio Ridr ...

(USDE), left the party in July 1976 to join the People's Democratic Party, where he was elected president in December of that year. The party was admitted as a member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism around ...

during the Congress that took place in Barcelona in October 1976; also, the PDP participated in the creation of Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in 1977, forming the liberal wing of UCD. The party was legalized on February 17, 1977. In the general elections of 1977 the party obtained 6 deputies within UCD: Ignacio Camuñas, José Manuel Paredes Grosso, Francisco Ruiz Risueño, Manuel Bermejo and José María Bravo de Laguna. Subsequently, on December 16, 1977, the party agreed to dissolve and become a full member of UCD.

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in Spain Defunct liberal political parties Liberal parties in Spain Centrist parties in Spain Political parties established in 1974 Political parties disestablished in 1977 Union of the Democratic Centre 1974 establishments in Spain 1977 disestablishments in Spain