People's Alliance (Spain)
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The People's Alliance (, AP) was a post- Francoist electoral coalition, and later a conservative political party in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, founded in 1976 as a federation of political associations. Transformed into a party in 1977 and led by
Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...
, it became the main
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
party in Spain. It was refounded as the People's Party in 1989.


History

AP was born on 9 October 1976 as a federation of political associations (proto-parties). The seven founders were
Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...
, Laureano López Rodó, Cruz Martínez Esteruelas, Federico Silva Muñoz, Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora, Licinio de la Fuente and . All seven had been officials in the dictatorship of
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
; the first six had held cabinet-level posts. They became known as ''los siete magníficos'' ("The Magnificent Seven"). Giving up in the project of a "reformist centre" Fraga and his small association
Democratic Reform Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an democratic transition, authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction ...
(successor of ) made a turn towards neo-Francoism (the opposite path was followed by
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 of Spain, prime minister since the Second Spanish Republi ...
) and joined and led what was to become, until 1979, the main neo-Francoist platform. The party position was perceived to be middleground between the right wing and the extreme right. Fraga's own outbursts of temper and the close ties of many of the AP candidates to the previous regime contributed to this perception. In particular, Fraga's often heavy-handed tactics as the first post-Franco interior minister gave voters pause. When elections were held in June 1977, the AP garnered 8.3% of the vote. In the months following the 1977 elections, dissension erupted within the AP over constitutional issues that arose as the draft document was being formulated. The more reactionary members voted against the draft constitution, and they advocated a shift to the right. Fraga, however, had wanted from the beginning to brand the party as a mainstream conservative party. He wanted to move the AP toward the political center in order to form a larger center-right party. Most of the disenchanted reactionaries left the AP for the far right, and Fraga and the remaining AP members joined other more moderately conservative and Christian Democratic politicians to form the Democratic Coalition (CD). It was hoped that this new coalition would capture the support of those who had voted for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in 1977, but who had become disenchanted with the Suárez government. When elections were held in March 1979, however, the CD received only 6.1 percent of the vote. Deeply disappointed, Fraga resigned as head of AP. By the time of the AP's Third Party Congress in December 1979, party leaders were reassessing their involvement with the CD. Many felt that the creation of the coalition had merely confused the voters, and they sought to emphasize the AP's independent identity. Fraga resumed control of the party, and the political resolutions adopted by the party congress reaffirmed the conservative orientation of the AP.


1980s

In the early 1980s, Fraga succeeded in rallying the various components of the right around his leadership. He was aided in his efforts to revive the AP by the increasing disintegration of the UCD. In the general elections held in October 1982, the AP gained votes both from previous UCD supporters and from the far right, and it became the major opposition party, securing 25.4 percent of the popular vote. Whereas the AP's parliamentary representation had dropped to 9 seats in 1979, the party allied itself with the small right-wing People's Democratic Party (PDP) to form a new coalition, called People's Coalition (CP) which won 106 seats in 1982. The increased strength of the AP was further evidenced in the municipal and regional elections held in May 1983, when the party drew 26 percent of the vote. A significant portion of the electorate appeared to support the AP's emphasis on law and order as well as its pro-business policies. Subsequent political developments belied the party's aspirations to continue increasing its base of support. Prior to the June 1986 elections, the AP once again joined forces with the PDP, and along with the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
(PL), formed the CP, in another attempt to expand its constituency to include the center of the political spectrum. The coalition called for stronger measures against
ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...
's violence, for more privatization, and for a reduction in spending and in taxes. The CP failed to increase its share of the vote in the 1986 elections, however, and it soon began to disintegrate. When regional elections in late 1986 resulted in further losses for the coalition, Fraga resigned as AP president, although he retained his parliamentary seat. At the party congress in February 1987, Hernández Mancha was chosen to head the AP, declaring that under his leadership the AP would become a "modern right-wing European party". But Hernandez lacked political experience at the national level, and the party continued to decline. When support for the AP plummeted in the municipal and regional elections held in June 1987, speculation abounded that it would be overtaken as major opposition party by Suarez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS).


New political party

The AP eventually was refounded as the People's Party in 1989, when it merged with several small
Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
and liberal parties in a movement called Reformist Centre under Fraga's chairmanship. It was the ruling party from 1996 through 2004 under
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 (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...
and from 2011 to 2018 under
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 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...
.


Electoral performance


Cortes Generales


European Parliament


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links


History of AP and its refundation PP
{{Authority control International Democracy Union former member parties Political parties established in 1976 Political parties disestablished in 1989 1976 establishments in Spain 1989 disestablishments in Spain Conservative parties in Spain Defunct political party alliances in Spain Catholic political parties