This article covers the development of Spain's economy over the course of its history.
This article covers the development of Spain's economy over the course of its history.
Francoist Spain (Spanish: España franquista; English: pronounced Franco-ist), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (dictadura franquista), or Nationalist Spain (España nacionalista), and Falangist Spain (España falangista), was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title Caudillo. After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned into a democracy. During Franco's rule, Spain was officially known as the Spanish State (Estado Español). The informal term "Fascist Spain" is also used, especially before and during World War II.
During its existence, the nature of the regime evolved and changed. Months after the start of the Civil War in July 1936, Franco emerged as the dominant rebel military leader and he was proclaimed head of state on 1 October 1936, ruling over the territory which was controlled by the Nationalist faction. In 1937, Franco became an uncontested dictator and issued the Unification Decree which merged all of the parties which supported the rebel side, turning Nationalist Spain into a one-party state under the FET y de las JONS. The Spanish Natioanlists received crucial support from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Estado Novo Portugal, allowing them to win the civil war over the Spanish Republicans. The end of the Civil War in 1939 brought the extension of the Franco rule to the whole country and the exile of Republican institutions. The Francoist dictatorship originally took a form described as, "fascist or quasi-fascist", "fascistized", "para-fascist", "semi-fascist", or a strictly fascist regime, showing clear influence of fascism in fields such as labor relations, the autarkic economic policy, aesthetics, the single-party system, and totalitarian control of public and private life. As time went on, the regime opened up and became closer to developmental dictatorships and abandoned the radical fascist ideology of Falangism, although it always preserved residual fascist trappings and a "major radical fascist ingredient."
Francoist Spain (Spanish: España franquista; English: pronounced Franco-ist), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (dictadura franquista), or Nationalist Spain (España nacionalista), and Falangist Spain (España falangista), was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title Caudillo. After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned into a democracy. During Franco's rule, Spain was officially known as the Spanish State (Estado Español). The informal term "Fascist Spain" is also used, especially before and during World War II.
During its existence, the nature of the regime evolved and changed. Months after the start of the Civil War in July 1936, Franco emerged as the dominant rebel military leader and he was proclaimed head of state on 1 October 1936, ruling over the territory which was controlled by the Nationalist faction. In 1937, Franco became an uncontested dictator and issued the Unification Decree which merged all of the parties which supported the rebel side, turning Nationalist Spain into a one-party state under the FET y de las JONS. The Spanish Nationalists received crucial support from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Estado Novo Portugal, allowing them to win the civil war over the Spanish Republicans. The end of the Civil War in 1939 brought the extension of the Franco rule to the whole country and the exile of Republican institutions. The Francoist dictatorship originally took a form described as, "fascist or quasi-fascist", "fascistized", "para-fascist", "semi-fascist", or a strictly fascist regime, showing clear influence of fascism in fields such as labor relations, the autarkic economic policy, aesthetics, the single-party system, and totalitarian control of public and private life. As time went on, the regime opened up and became closer to developmental dictatorships and abandoned the radical fascist ideology of Falangism, although it always preserved residual fascist trappings and a "major radical fascist ingredient."
A general election was held in Spain on Thursday, 28 October 1982, to elect the members of the 2nd Cortes Generales under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate.
The election was called several months ahead of schedule by then Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, amid poor polling ratings and severe infighting within the ruling Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) party, which had seen the splits of former prime minister Adolfo Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), Óscar Alzaga's People's Democratic Party (PDP), and the Democratic Action Party (PAD) of former justice minister Francisco Fernández Ordóñez. Government instability, the effects of an economic downturn resulting from the 1979 oil crisis and spiralling violence from terrorist attacks had characterized the legislative term. Suárez himself had resigned as prime minister in January 1981, two coup attempts were thwarted—one during Calvo-Sotelo's investiture on 23 February 1981, and another one on election eve—and the administrative set up of the so-called "state of autonomies" saw the UCD becoming increasingly isolated, particularly following its failure in opposing Andalusia's bid to attain autonomy through the "fast-track" route envisaged in the Constitution. A toxic oil syndrome outbreak in 1981, whose origin was traced to the illegal marketing of contaminated rapeseed oil, further undermined the UCD's position. Calvo-Sotelo himself had chosen not to seek re-election, being replaced as party nominee by the president of the Congress of Deputies, Landelino Lavilla.