Chapter 5 - A Transition without Justice?

Summary

THE “SPANISH MODEL”: RHETORIC ABOUT RECONCILIATION AND A DECISION NOT TO LOOK BACK TO THE PAST

The transition from dictatorship to democracy was triggered by the death of Franco on 20 November 1975. Two days later, King Juan Carlos I was crowned. The restoration of the monarchy took place in strict compliance with the provisions of the dictator who, in 1968, through the Law of Succession, had appointed the grandson of last king, Alfonso XIII, who had left Spain in 1931, before the proclamation of the Second Republic, as his successor. There was no break with the past, but absolute institutional continuity. Juan Carlos I assumed the position of Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The legitimacy of the monarchy was subsequently confirmed by King Alfonso XIII's son, Juan de Borbón, renouncing the crown in favour of his son, Juan Carlos. The new monarch did not condemn the Franco regime, but rather pronounced messages in favour of harmony and reconciliation among all Spaniards. The monarchy gradually expressed support for establishing a democracy without breaking with the former regime and with calls to look forward to the future and not back to the past.

The Spanish Government, headed by Adolfo Suárez, promoted a process of democratic reform, which was reflected in a law of political reform passed by the Cortes Generales, a body with a parliamentary appearance that had existed under the Franco regime but which had never been directly elected by Spain's citizens. The new law was put to referendum and approved on 15 December 1976. Under these legal provisions, democratic general elections were subsequently held on 15 June 1977, from which a Constituent Parliament emerged, with two chambers, the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, whose primary mission was to draw up a constitution. During this period, a number of measures were adopted that were distinctly democratic in character; these included various amnesties and remedial measures that we shall examine later. Almost all political parties were legalised and were allowed to participate in the elections of June 1977. The trickiest decision centred on the legalisation of the Communist Party.