Spanish Politics and Society

Spanish Politics and Society Hispanic & European Studies Program Fall 2009 Raimundo Viejo Viñas Office 20.182 www.raimundoviejo.info raimundo.viejo@upf.edu

The institutional Legacy of Francoism Historical background: the Spanish state-building process / Continuities and discontinuities in the Spanish Modern History: from Spanish Empire failure to Spanish national state failure / Spanish Political Development: The Francoist Regime (its nature and Collapse) / Democratization

Franco’s political regime • Political scientists distinguish democracies and undemocratic regimes or autocracies. • In autocratic regimes there is no rule of law • Political authorities are not elected in free elections • There are not civil liberties, and different political ideas are pursued by the State • Undemocratic political regimes can be classified into three types: • Totalitarian, that seeks the extermination of any alternative to the regime • Authoritarian, that represses the alternatives and has a limited internal pluralism • Sultanates, that is owned by the dictator and/or a small elite.

Franco’s political regime • The political regime of dictator Francisco Franco (Francoism) was an undemocratic regime or autocracy. • During its first years, after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Franco’s regime was a totalitarian autocracy. • Republican opposition was persecuted, imprisoned and executed • Falange became the single, totalitarian party • Political rights and civil liberties were suppressed

Franco’s political regime • In the late fifties and sixties Francoism transited from a totalitarian into an authoritarian regime. • In the context of the Cold War (after the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini), Falange lost its power as single party. • Franco became the arbitrator between the various "political families" of the regime: falangistas, juancarlistas, opus... • They increased due process, without actually being a state of right. • Fraga’s Ley de Prensa partially increased freedom of speech

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Three major powers (the so-called poderes fácticos) dominated political life during Franco’s dictatorship • The military • The Catholich Church • The mass media • While the military and the Catholic Church were centralised institutions involved in the political regime from the very beginning, the mass media gained political influence after the 1950s

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Since the Spanish Empire, the army has a long history of political intervention in public life. • Several factos explain such an authoritarian interventionism: • Macrocephaly (too many officers, no career) • Extrem nationalism (self-defined protagonism as the most patriotic actor) • Intolerance to civilian criticism

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • After the Civil War liberal officers of the Spanish army were eliminated • The repressive role of the Spanish military reinforced extreme-right radicalization • Franco’s neutrality during World War II reinforced the internal role of the military • The territorial structure of the military was adapted to an internal enemy.

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Despite rapid modernisation of Spanish society in the 1960s and 1970s, the military remained anachronically conservative. It was known as the “bunker” • During the transition years (1975-1982) the most radical part of the bunker conspired against democratization • ETA’s successful attack against Prime Minister Carrero Blanco increased military’s discontent agains the late Francoist political establishment

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • On February 23, 1981 the last (failed) military coup took place in Madrid. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcc0_8i0CYs • The Army actively opposed the first democratic governments of the Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) • The electoral victory of the Socialists in 1982 began a new phase of renewal that led to the integration into international military Western alliances (NATO, OSCE…) • However, during the 1980s a youth social movement boycotted conscription forcing the socialists to professionalize the army

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Franco’s police was a militarized one. • Two armed forces were responsible for social order: the Guardia Civil and the Policía Armada • While the Policía Armada was renamed Policía Nacional and separated from the army, the Guardia Civil still has an ambiguous status • During the 1980s, the Grupo Antiterrorista de Liberación (GAL) was formed illegally to fight the ETA. As a result of GAL activities 26 people (some of them innocent) were killed

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • In the 1990s the Policía Nacional began a decentralization process that finished with the establishment of the Basque (Ertzaintza) and Catalan (Mossos d’Esquadra) police • Even if the Spanish state has a relative low ratio of policemen, the Basque Country remains the european exception (6.5 police per 1,000 inhabitants)

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Along with Poland, Italy and Portugal, the Spanish State is one of the countries where the Catholic Church has a major influence. • The Catholic Church is a counterpoint to the military. While the military resisted democratization, the Cathoclic Church cooperated with the government during the “Transición” • However, the Cathoclic Church supported and legitimated Franco during the Civil War. According to the regime ideology (the “Nacionalcatolicismo”), Franco was considered “Caudillo por la Gracia de Dios”

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • During Francoism the Catholic Church regained influence on the State’s affairs • The Concordat of 1953 signed with the Vatican institutionalized Church-State relations • But as in other catholic countries, things changed after the progressive Second Vatican Council (1962) • The growing importance of social issues led young Catholics to think the combination of Catholicism with socialists or marxists ideas • The foundation of the ETA is the most extreme case

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • The most important ecclessiastical lobby is the Opus Dei • Opus Dei combined ultra-conservative idea with a technocratic strategy • In the late 1950s and 1960s, Opus Dei took the control over the government until the Caso Matesa (1969) • During this period, The Opus Dei became strong in the mass media, the education and the health

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Paradoxically, social development produced by Opus Dei governments led to a greater liberalization of Spanish society • As a result of liberalization, religious practice declined and a vocational crisis followed • Since the 1990s, however, the Catholic Church has become an important political actor • Divorce, abortion and education are the main controversial issues arisen by the Catholic Church

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • Mass media are the third “poder fáctico” • During the Francoism there were no civil liberties or political rights such as freedom of speech. Public discourse was controlled by a censorship system based on the consignas • In 1966 the Press Law of Manuel Fraga relaxed censorship. New opposition newspapers were published, but radio and TV still were strictly under control • Transition to Democracy was a kind of “big bang” for the media landscape. Nevertheless, not all the new publications and radios survived regime change

The institutional Legacy of Francoism • In the 1990s, the GAL and other corruption cases forced the socialist party to a greater transparency • As a result, three new companies appeared: Antena 3, Telecinco and Canal +. More recently a new company, La Sexta, joined them • Today TV continues to be a controversial issue: new technologies as the TDT (Digital terrestrial television) are at the center of political debate

Spanish Politics and Society