Speak the Culture: Spain: Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture

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1. Identity: the
   building blocks of
   2. Literature
   and philosophy
   3. Art and
   architecture
   4. Performing
   arts
   5. Cinema
   and fashion
   6. Media and
   communications
   7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
   the details of

Spain does democracy

When Franco died, a third Bourbon restoration arose

in the shape of King Juan Carlos. Groomed by Franco,

many assumed he would simply push on with

autocracy.They were wrong: within two years Spain had

a functioning two-tier parliament, a free press and

legalised unions. Democracy did face a final test in

the form of moustachioed Civil Guard colonel Antonio

Tejero. He stormed the Cortes on 23rdFebruary 1981

waving a pistol at the deputies, claiming that the

military was taking charge. It could have worked – tanks

apparently appeared on the streets in Valencia – but for

King Juan Carlos, head of the armed forces, appearing

onTV and tellingTejero and friends to get back in their

box.The army complied and the process of

democratisation continued.

Franco’s nationalism sank under a newly devolved

Spain, carved into 17 autonomous communities in 1983.

Prime Minister Felipe González and his socialist Partido

Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) are often credited

with transforming post-Franco Spain. He held power for

14 years and oversaw rapid economic growth. In 1986

Spain joined the EU. Education, the health service and

industry all bloomed. However, by the time González

left office in 1996 he looked jaded: his government had

become plagued by corruption scandals and, worse,

accused of sanctioning death squads to wipe out

possible ETA men. His successor, José María Aznar of

the centre-right PP party, impressed with two terms of

steady economic progress and a reduction in separatist

violence. However, his final move, leading Spain into the

General who?
In 2000, on the 25th
anniversary of Franco’s
death, the Generalísimo’s
daughter, Carmen, was
joined by various ageing
former dignitaries
in a ceremony at his
gargantuan hillside
mausoleum near Madrid
(the site was built by slave
labour and many want it
demolished). The rest of
Spain, media included,
largely ignored the date;
instead they marked the
25 thanniversary of King
Juan Carlos’ reign.

Making the change:
la Transición
Spain’s period of
adjustment, when the
country adapted to new-
found democracy in
the late 1970s and 80s,
became known as
la Transición.