The Spanish Democratic Union ( es, Unión Democrática Española; UDE) was a Spanish political party founded in 1975 as a political association, then as a party from August 1976. Among the party's most notable members were government ministers in

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 ...

's first cabinet:

Alfonso Osorio Alfonso Osorio García (13 December 1923 – 27 August 2018) was a Spanish politician. Born in Santander on 13 December 1923, Osorio studied law at the University of Oviedo. He joined the State Lawyers Corps in 1953, serving in Cuenca and Toledo. ...

Eduardo Carriles Eduardo Carriles (1923–2020) was a Spanish lawyer, businessman and politician who served as the minister of finance between 1976 and 1977. Biography Carriles was born in Santander on 28 November 1923. He was a lawyer by profession. He served a ...

, Andrés Reguera Guajardo and

Enrique de la Mata Enrique de la Mata (September 20, 1933 – September 6, 1987) was a Spanish parliamentarian, lawyer and minister. He was the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from 1981 to 1987. After the end of ...

History

The party was led by former public works minister Federico Silva Muñoz until October 1976, when he stepped down over discrepancies with his party on the issue of forming an alliance of centre-right and conservative parties; such an alliance would materialize into the formation of the People's Alliance (AP), which Muñoz would join after splitting from the UDE. On 4 April 1977, UDE would merge with the Christian Democratic People's Party (PPDC) into the newly formed

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(PDC), which would in turn eventually merge into the Union of the Democratic Centre in December 1977, and dissolved in February 1978.

References

{{reflist Conservative parties in Spain 1975 establishments in Spain 1977 disestablishments in Spain Political parties established in 1975 Political parties disestablished in 1977