The People's Socialist Party (, PSP) was a Spanish

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

of socialist ideology, led by Enrique Tierno Galván. Founded under Francoism, it merged into the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party shortly after the 1977 general election.

History

Origins

The origins of the party dated back to 1954 when the university professor Enrique Tierno Galván published various academic studies of a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

character.PSP:Historia
''La Vanguardia'', 11 April 1978, p4, accessed 23 May 2010 In 1965, working with Raúl Morodo, he formed the Castillian Socialist Federation (Federación Socialista Castellana). Two years later, the party became the Partido Socialista del Interior or the Socialist Party of the Interior, reflecting the fact that most of its members were based in Spain, in contrast to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), many of whose members were exiles. The party attempted to reach agreements with the PSOE, but ideological differences proved insurmountable. In Francoist Spain, it was an illegal underground movement on university campuses, and it adopted the Popular Socialist Party name in 1974. Its President was Tierno Galván. That same year, the party formed the Democratic Junta of Spain (''Junta Democrática de España'') together with the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and the Carlist Party. It defined itself as socialist and Marxist. In contrast to the PSOE, which had a base in the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

movement, many PSP members were university professors and intellectuals.

Legalization and elections

The PSP stood in the 1977 Spanish general election in coalition with a number of regional left wing movements, especially the Socialist Party of Andalusia (where they stood under the name Socialist Unity). Overall, the PSP won 816,582 votes (4.46%) and six seats in Congress. In the Senate, Socialist Unity had two representatives elected.

Integration into the PSOE

In February 1978, the party entered into discussions with other parties, including the Communist Party of Spain and the PSOE, about possible future electoral cooperation. Although Tierno denied suggestions of mergers during those discussions, the party congress voted in favour of a merger with the PSOE on 1 April 1978; this was concluded at a joint press conference between Tierno and Felipe Gonzalez, the PSOE leader in April 1978.''El Pais'' 15 April 1978
/ref> The following year, Tierno Galván was elected Mayor of Madrid by the PSOE and PCE.

References

External links

;Images
PSP logoPSP poster
{{Authority control 1968 establishments in Spain 1978 disestablishments in Spain Anti-Francoism Defunct socialist parties in Spain Formerly banned political parties in Spain Formerly banned socialist parties Political parties disestablished in 1978 Political parties established in 1968 Socialist International Spanish Socialist Workers' Party