Spain History

The elections of 1931 saw a clear shift in favour of the Republican movement when most major cities rejected candidates supporting the monarchy although rural towns still seemed to retain their support for the monarchy. The force of the republican movement was eventurally so strong that in April 1931 the King was forced to abdicate. This precipitated a period of unrest and hardship and eventually in 1936 a 3-year civil war.

During Franco's 40-year dictatorship which began in 1936 when he took over as Head of State and Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces, Spain was isolated by economic blockades, excluded from NATO and the UN and strongly affected by economic recession. The growth of Spain’s tourism and a treaty with the USA in the 1950s that provided the country with much needed funds made recovery possible.

With Juan Carlos on the throne (after Franco’s death in 1975), Spain turned from dictatorship to democracy. The first elections followed in 1977, a new constitution was drafted in 1978.

In 1986 Spain joined the EC (now the EU) and in 1992 Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games, Seville hosted the Expo and Madrid was declared European Cultural Capital. Spain was riding high!

In 2004, a terrorist attack in Madrid killed 192 people and led to great anger but also self-reflection amongst the Spannish population. Recently the Socialist government has been responsible for significant social reforms, such as legalising gay marriage and granting residency papers to almost a million illegal immigrants.

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