Living in Democracy

After Franco died, the transition to democracy took place. There was a lot of tension in Spain at this time, but the transformation happened peacefully.

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In 1975, Juan Carlos I became the king of Spain. The king named Adolfo Suárez as the president of the new government after the first democratic elections in 1977 were UCD (Unión de Centro Democrático) won. It was the first democratic government since the Second Republic. 

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In 1978, the Spanish people approved a new constitution in a referendum. 

A referendum is a vote in which all the people in a country are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question. 

The Spanish Constitution is a text that defines how Spain is organized and sets out the fundamental rights of its citizens and the most important rules of our society. The Spanish people approved the current Constitution on the 6th of December 1978. In its first article it defines Spain as it follows:

Spain is constituted as a social and democratic State of Law, which advocates freedom, justice, equality and political pluralism as superior values of its legal system.

The first president of our current democracy was Adolfo Suárez. 

Spain is a democracy. Spanish citizens vote for their governments. 

Spain is a social state. The state is ruled by laws and its citizens have rights. The constitutional values are liberty, justice and equality. The form of government is a parliamentary monarchy.

Spain’s territory is divided into Autonomous Communities. The symbols of Spain are the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem. 

In 1981, Suárez resigned and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo became the president of Spain. This was a tense moment for the new democracy. On the 23rd of February there was a military coup. The leader was Tejero but in the end it didn’t succed and things went to normal again.

In 1982, there were new elections. The winning party was the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) and the new president was Felipe González. Between 1982 and 1996, the PSOE formed various governments. The democratic transition was complete. 

In 1996, the Partido Popular (PP) won the elections and José María Aznar became the president. The PP and Aznar won the elections again in 2000.