VI.

History

The earliest records of an aboriginal past in the Iberian Peninsula are Palaeolithic cave paintings, found in the region of the Bay of Biscay and the western Pyrenees and evincing a remarkable degree of vivacity and skill. Distinctly different from this development in the north was the later Neolithic Almerian culture (c. 3000 bc) of south-east Spain, which was akin to that of prehistoric Africa. The southern region became the first invasion point for the Iberians, originally a North African people, who, about 1000 bc, became the most prominent ethnologic element in the peninsula and gave it its name. The second most important people in the peninsula were the Celts, who entered in a mass migration from France. The Celts almost completely absorbed the indigenous inhabitants of the central region and, to a lesser extent, those of the northern mountains. A subsequent intermingling of Celts and Iberians formed the so-called Celtiberians, living chiefly in the central region, the west, and along the northern coast.

A.

Antiquity and Middle Ages

The first of the eastern Mediterranean peoples known to have voyaged to the peninsula were the seafaring Phoenicians, probably in the 11th century bc. The Phoenicians established a colony on the site of present-day Cádiz. Traders from Rhodes and the Greek cities followed, establishing colonies on the Mediterranean coast and occasionally venturing into the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar, then known as the Pillars of Hercules. In the second half of the 3rd century bc the African state of Carthage began to exploit the peninsula. Under the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, a large part of the peninsula was conquered in a campaign from 237 to 228 bc, and in the latter year Carthage founded the city of Barcelona. Other colonies were established, notably Carthago Nova (now Cartagena).

The expansion of Carthage in the peninsula was viewed unfavourably by Rome. In 219 bc, violating a previous Carthage-Rome agreement delimiting Carthaginian territory, the Carthaginian general Hannibal destroyed the Greek colony of Saguntum (now Sagunto) and precipitated the second of the Punic Wars. Carthage was forced to evacuate the peninsula in 206 bc. Nine years later Rome divided the peninsula into two provinces, Hispania Citerior, in the valley of the Ebro (north-east), and Hispania Ulterior, in the plain penetrated by the Guadalquivir River (south). The peoples of the extreme north did not surrender their independence to Rome until 19 BC.

Under the Romans, Hispania took its final form as three provinces: Lusitania, approximating to modern Portugal; Baetica, in the south, approximating to western Andalusia; and Hispania Tarraconensis, the central plateau and the north, north-west, and the eastern coast above Cartagena. From the final submission of the Iberian peoples until the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire in the late 4th century ad, Hispania was one of the most prosperous areas of Roman power. Its farms were a major source of Roman grain, and from its mines came iron, copper, lead, gold, and silver.

A.1.

Visigothic Spain

In ad 409 Teutonic invaders crossed the Pyrenees. Alans, Vandals, and Suevi swept over the peninsula. The unity of Hispania under Rome was destroyed, not to be entirely recreated for more than a thousand years. In an attempt to stem the havoc brought by the invasions, Rome appealed to the Visigoths, who in ad 412 brought their armies into the region and within seven years became the dominant power. The Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse, a nominal vassal of Rome, was established in 419, and at its fullest extent included the territory from the Strait of Gibraltar north to the River Loire in present-day France.

For three centuries (419-711) the king of Toulouse implanted Roman culture and Christianity in the peninsula. Euric ruled at the height of Visigothic power in the 5th century and codified the Roman and Gothic law. Leovigild, who reigned from 569 to 586, effected the final subjugation of the Suevi and united the Roman and Visigothic elements of the peninsula into a single people. Between 586 and 601, Leovigild’s son Recared established Roman Catholicism as the official state religion.

A.2.

Spain Under the Moors

In 711 a Berber Muslim army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa into the Iberian peninsula. Roderick, last of the Visigothic kings of Spain, was defeated at the Battle of Río Barbate. By 719 the invading forces were supreme from the coast to the Pyrenees. Their progress north was arrested at a battle fought in France, between Tours and Poitiers, in 732 by the Frankish ruler Charles Martel. The first years of their rule, the Moors, as the Berber conquerors came to be known, held the peninsula (except for Asturias and the Basque country) as a dependency of the Province of North Africa, a division of the caliphate of Damascus.

After 717 the country was ruled by emirs, appointed by the caliphs, who were frequently neglectful of their duties; misrule resulted in the appointment and deposition of 20 successive emirs over the ensuing 40 years. This state of affairs was ended by a struggle between the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties for control of the caliphate. The last of the Spanish emirs, Yusuf, favoured the Abbasids, but the local officials of the empire supported the Umayyads. The Umayyad faction invited Abd-ar-Rahman I, a member of the family, to become the independent ruler of Spain. In 756 Abd-ar-Rahman founded the powerful and independent emirate, which later developed into the caliphate of Córdoba.

During the establishment of Moorish power, a remnant of Christian rule was preserved in the northern portion of the peninsula. The most important Christian state of the northern peninsula, the small kingdom of Asturias, was founded about 718 by Pelayo, a Visigothic chieftain. Pelayo’s son-in-law, Alfonso, conquered nearly all the region known as Galicia, recaptured most of León, and was then crowned Alfonso I, King of León and Asturias. Alfonso III greatly extended these territories during his reign, which ended in 910.

During the 10th century the region of Navarre became an independent kingdom under Sancho I. As the kings of León expanded their domains to the east in the early 10th century, they reached Burgos. Because of the castles built to guard the frontiers of newly acquired territory, this region became popularly known as Castilla, or Castile. Under Count Fernán González the region became independent of León, and in 932 the Count declared himself the first king of Castile.

In the 11th century a considerable part of Aragón was captured from the Muslims by Sancho III, King of Navarre, who also conquered León and Castile, and in 1033 he made his son, Ferdinand I, King of Castile. This temporary unity came to an end at Sancho’s death, when his domains were divided among his sons. The most prominent of Sancho’s sons was Ferdinand, who acquired León in 1037, took the Moorish section of Galicia, and set up a vassal county in what is now northern Portugal. With northern Spain consolidated, Ferdinand, in 1056, proclaimed himself Emperor of Spain (from the Latin Hispania), and he initiated the period of reconquest from the Muslims.

A.3.

The Christian Reconquest

At the beginning of the great reconquest the Umayyad dynasty had ruled Muslim Spain for about three centuries. The greatest of its rulers was Abd-ar-Rahman III, who in 929 proclaimed himself caliph. His capital, Córdoba, became the most splendid city in Europe except for Constantinople, and Spanish civilization during the Moorish supremacy was far in advance of that of the rest of the continent. Numerous schools were built, many of them free and for the education of the poor. At the great Muslim universities medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and literature were cultivated; the works of Aristotle were studied there long before they were well known to Christian Europe. An extensive literature developed, the caliphs themselves being poets and authors of note, and Islamic art and architecture flourished. The Umayyads also encouraged commerce and agriculture, and constructed effective irrigation systems throughout the southern region.

The dynasty ended with the death of Hisham III in 1036 and the caliphate split into a number of independent and mutually hostile Moorish kingdoms, including Córdoba, Granada, Seville, Toledo, Lisbon, Saragossa, Murcia, and Valencia. The dissolution of the central Moorish power enabled the Christian kings of northern Spain to gain the advantage, subduing some Moorish states and making others tributary. A temporary revival of central power was instituted by the Abbadids of Seville between 1023 and 1091. Alfonso I of Castile led his attacking armies south and by 1086 was master of Toledo. Abbad al-Mutamid, as Abbad III of Seville, then asked the aid of the Almoravids, a Muslim sect of North Africa. The Almoravids crossed to Spain, but after defeating Alfonso in 1086 they turned against the Spanish Moors, and by the beginning of the 12th century the Almoravid ruler was the sovereign of Muslim Spain.

The Almoravid dynasty was, however, short-lived, and its power passed to a second African sect, the Almohads, who invaded Spain in 1145 and became masters of the Muslim areas within five years. The Christian kings, meanwhile, continued their advance. In a great battle fought on the plains of Toledo in July 1212, the Almohads were defeated by the united Christian power and expelled from Spain shortly thereafter. The Moorish power was then limited to some ports around Cádiz and to the kingdom of Granada, which endured until 1492 and was one of the greatest and most splendid of Muslim realms.

Except for these regions, Spain for the next two centuries consisted of two great kingdoms: in the west Castile and León, including Asturias, Córdoba, Extremadura, Galica, Jaén, and Seville; and in the east, Aragón, including Barcelona, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Both realms were characterized, as a legacy of their previous history, by a diversity of dialects, by composite populations (including Christians, Moors, and Jews), and by divergent political forms.

B.

Spain in the Early Modern Era

In 1469 the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand V of Aragón initiated the developments that made Spain a great power. They became joint rulers of Castile in 1474 and of Aragón in 1479, although no actual union of the two kingdoms occurred and each monarch exercised sovereign power only in his or her own realm. Aragón, the smaller and poorer kingdom, tended to be neglected. Attention was focused instead on strengthening royal authority in richer and more populous Castile.

Also important for the pious monarchs (who took the title “Catholic Kings”) was the establishment in 1478 of the Inquisition to enforce purity of the faith. The Inquisition was also a powerful tool for increasing and consolidating royal power. Inquisitors were royally appointed, invested with both civil and Church power, exempt from normal jurisdiction, and served by a multitude of informants and bodyguards. Proceedings were secret and the property of the condemned was confiscated and distributed among the Crown, the Inquisition, and the accusers.

In 1480 Isabella convoked a great Cortes (parliament) at Toledo, which laid the legislative basis for royal absolutism in Castile. Laws were recodified, the judicial system was reformed, and the power of the nobility was weakened. Moreover, administrative structures and methods of recruiting state officials were systematized, making Castile perhaps the most modern large state of its time.

Royal power was consolidated further during a ten-year war against Granada, the last Moorish stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula. These efforts culminated in 1492, when first Granada fell, politically unifying all of Spain, and then religious uniformity was imposed through the forcible conversion or expulsion of Jews, some 150,000 of whom chose to leave, and the remaining Moors. Still, a seemingly minor act, the sponsoring of Christopher Columbus to find a westward route to the Indies, had the greatest historical consequences.

B.1.

The Making of a World Power

The new strength of Castile became evident in its ability to create a huge overseas empire and at the same time achieve hegemony in Europe. Columbus’s voyages, which aroused great excitement, brought disappointing results for the next two decades. Then Spain’s spectacular expansion in the Americas began. The most important events were the destruction of the Aztec empire in Mexico by Hernán Cortés from 1519 to 1521, the conquest of the Inca empire of Peru by Francisco Pizarro from 1531 to 1533. By the 1550s Spain controlled most of the South American continent, Central America, Florida, Cuba and, in Asia, the Philippine Islands. The Spanish Empire was the means by which Christianity first spread across the Atlantic. It also brought enormous wealth to Spain when, after the 1530s, rich silver and gold mines were discovered.

Spain’s expansion in Europe began even before this wealth became available. Relying on brilliant diplomacy as well as on the military commanders and techniques forged in the war against Granada, King Ferdinand was chiefly responsible for making Spain into a major European power. The main opponent was France, both along the frontiers that separated the two states and also in Italy, where Aragón’s traditional interests were threatened by French efforts to dominate the peninsula.

The struggle began with the successful campaign of 1495-1497 in southern Italy and continued intermittently for two decades, until Ferdinand’s death. By then Spain had won control of southern Italy, all Navarre south of the Pyrenees, and farther north, the regions of Cerdagne and Roussillon. Ferdinand also arranged strategic alliances with other royal houses hostile to France, marrying one daughter to the heir to the English throne and another, Joanna, to a Habsburg, Philip of Burgundy, later King Philip I of Castile.

Isabella’s death in 1504 nearly upset the process of expansion as Castile’s crown passed to Joanna, who had become mentally deranged. Ferdinand, anxious to keep Castile united with Aragón, tried to gain the regency on the grounds of her madness. He was circumvented by Philip who, supported by the Castilian nobles, became ruler in his wife’s stead. In 1506, however, Philip died and Ferdinand again assumed sole direction of the two kingdoms. Ferdinand died in 1516 and was succeeded by his grandson, Charles, son of Joanna and Philip, who, as legal heir to both kingdoms became the first king of a united Spain.

B.2.

Charles V

The accession of Charles brought the Habsburg dynasty to the Spanish throne. Charles was the most powerful Christian monarch of his time. In addition to Spain and its possessions in Italy and the Americas, he inherited the Netherlands and Burgundy through his father. He also had strong ties to the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family and in 1519 was elected, as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles had been reared in Flanders, could not speak Spanish, and tried to rule Spain through foreign advisers. In 1520-1521, Spanish resentment against this precipitated a revolt in Toledo, Segovia, and other Castilian cities demanding greater municipal liberties. The revolt was defeated with help from the nobility, and three centuries would pass before royal absolutism was again challenged in Spain.

Even though Charles continued to spend much time outside Spain, he became increasingly popular with his Spanish subjects. This apparent paradox can be explained by Castile’s great prosperity during his reign, partly the result of American treasure but also reflecting growth in manufacturing and in population, and by pride in Spain’s great imperial accomplishments.

During Charles’s reign Cortés, Pizarro, and others explored and conquered the Americas. Ferdinand’s anti-French strategy was continued in a series of wars (1521-1529, 1535-1538, 1542-1544, 1551-1559) that made Spain a dominant power in northern as well as southern Italy. Charles led the Catholic attempts first to conciliate, then to suppress the Protestant Reformation sweeping northern Europe. In the south, he mounted expeditions against Tunis (1535) and Algiers (1541), defending the western Mediterranean against Turkish efforts to expand.

B.3.

Philip II

In 1556 Charles relinquished the Spanish throne to his son, Philip II, who had served as regent during Charles’s many absences. As Philip’s reign began, tranquillity prevailed in Spain. The American empire was now fully consolidated, and unprecedented quantities of silver poured into Castile. The exhausting French wars were ended by the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559, and for the next four decades France was so divided by religious conflict as to be unable to challenge Spanish interests.

So began Spain’s “Golden Age” of culture and art, which would continue for a century. In 1571 Spain took the lead in the Holy League, which defeated the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto, permanently weakening Turkish maritime power. Nine years later, the death of King Henry of Portugal gave Philip, (through his mother) a strong claim to the Portuguese throne. Rival claimants were overcome, and Portuguese resentment against foreign rule was softened through concessions. Since Portugal controlled territories in Asia, Africa, and Brazil, its union with Spain meant the creation of the largest and most far-flung empire in the world.

Still, troubles gradually accumulated. Philip had a zealous devotion to Roman Catholicism and to the preservation of absolute rule. This combination proved disastrous in the Low Countries. Philip’s persecution of Protestants and his attempts to rule the Netherlands as a province of Spain, without regard for its traditional rights, led to open revolt in 1566. This conflict continued for a half-century, draining Spanish resources. It also led to war with England.

Under Queen Elizabeth I, England had become a Protestant power whose foreign policy included unofficial support for the Dutch rebels and for the English mariners who raided Spanish colonies and treasure fleets in the Americas. Philip sent a huge fleet against England in 1588, but the great Spanish Armada was defeated in the English Channel; most of the surviving ships were wrecked in a storm off the Hebrides.

Meanwhile, the domestic situation was deteriorating. American treasure alone could not support Spain’s wars; taxation became oppressive, and the state defaulted on loans. Also upsetting to economic stability were the epidemics that swept Spain in the 1590s, significantly reducing the population. In addition, as Philip strengthened the Inquisition, intellectual life became narrower and less open to new currents of thought. At his death in 1598 Philip left a country that was declining domestically and internationally.

B.4.

Decline and Crisis

Philip III halted the campaigns against the Dutch and cut back Spain’s other foreign ventures. In 1609 he expelled some 250,000 Moriscos (Christianized Moors), further depopulating Spain and disrupting its economy. Philip IV, who succeeded to the throne after his father’s death in 1621, preferred culture to politics; Spain’s Golden Age reached its height during his reign. He allowed Gaspar de Guzmán, conde de Olivares, to run the government. Olivares sought to restore and even expand Spanish power abroad. He resumed the Dutch conflict and involved Spain in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), which in turn led to war with France after 1635.

At first generally successful abroad, Spain’s military effort could no longer be sustained at home. Olivares’s efforts to increase taxation and conscription led to revolt in 1640, first in Catalonia and then in Portugal. With the home front in chaos, Spain also began to fail abroad. Olivares was ousted, but the wars and revolutions his policies had helped engender haunted Spain for another three decades. Catalonia was recovered in 1652, but Dutch independence had to be recognized in 1648. Roussillon and Cerdagne were returned to France in 1659, and the independence of Portugal was finally accepted in 1668.

Spain was weakened further by the rapid exhaustion of the American silver mines after 1640. Economically, politically, and even culturally, Spain entered a long period of decline. Its new ruler, Charles II, could not govern effectively because of physical and mental infirmities. Factional strife characterized Spain at home; lost wars typified it abroad.

At Charles’s death, the male line of the Spanish Habsburgs became extinct. Charles willed his throne to his grand-nephew, Philip V, Duke of Anjou and grandson of the Bourbon King Louis XIV of France, who was the most powerful monarch of his time. Much of Europe viewed the Bourbon acquisition of Spain’s still vast territories with alarm, and accordingly favoured the Habsburg claims to the throne, as represented by the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.

England, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia, and several smaller countries formed a coalition against Louis XIV. This resulted in 1701 in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1711 support of the Habsburg claimant also threatened to upset the European balance of power when, as Charles VI, he became Holy Roman emperor after the death of his brother and inherited the Austrian domains. A compromise was reached in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) whereby most of Spain’s remaining European possessions went to Austria, but the Bourbon claimant was recognized as King Philip V of Spain and the overseas empire passed intact to him.

B.5.

The First Bourbons

Bourbon rule was notable for domestic changes and internal development. Schooled in the absolutism of Louis XIV, Philip brought Catalonia and Aragón, which still preserved traces of their medieval status as independent states, under central bureaucratic control. Administrative and fiscal reforms of the Bourbon kings made government more effective and reduced the privileges of the Church and the nobility. Large programmes of public works were begun, and commerce, industry, and agriculture received royal encouragement. Intellectual life gradually revived, as did economic and population growth. The American colonies were also reorganized, and Spain’s commercial ties with them were improved.

In foreign affairs, the early Bourbons were usually allied with France and hostile to Great Britain, Spain’s chief naval and colonial rival. Spain joined France against Austria in the Wars of the Polish Succession (1733-1735) and the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). As a result, Spain regained some of the Italian influence it had lost in 1713.

In 1762 Spain entered the Seven Years’ War as an ally of the French against Britain; it lost Florida when the British won, but received Louisiana from France as compensation. The two nations allied again in 1779 to support the American War of Independence against Britain, and by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 Spain recovered Florida. The Spanish presence now extended over much of the North American continent. Under Charles III, an enlightened ruler responsible for many foreign and domestic achievements, Spain regained some of its former greatness.

B.6.

Effects of the French Revolution

The next king, Charles IV, was a weak ruler, prey to intrigues and corruption particularly after 1792, when he gave Manuel de Godoy the direction of the government. The extraordinary upheavals that the French Revolution engendered throughout Europe after 1789 had especially adverse effects on Spain. Fear that revolutionary ideology might spread to Spain caused the revival of repressive policies. In 1793, after the French Bourbon king was executed, Spain joined other European powers in declaring war against the revolutionary government, but soon had to admit defeat as French armies ravaged its northern provinces.

As revolutionary fervour diminished in France, Godoy reversed course in 1796 and formed an alliance with that country against Britain. British naval supremacy could not be overcome, however, and for the next decade Spain was usually cut off from its American colonies, with disastrous economic consequences. Worse still, France began to act more like a master than an ally once Napoleon gained effective control over it in 1799. Louisiana was ceded back to France in 1800, and by the War of the Third Coalition in 1805, Spain, its fleet lost at the Battle of Trafalgar, (in the Napoleonic Wars) had become a French puppet.

Resentment grew among the Spanish people, who in March 1808 overthrew Godoy and forced Charles to abdicate in favour of his son, Ferdinand. Napoleon, who had already decided to assume direct control of Spain, took advantage of the disarray to oust both Ferdinand and Charles, placing his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne.

B.7.

War of Independence

The Spanish people refused to recognize Joseph as king and organized resistance against French occupation. A British force came to their aid; in Britain the conflict was known as the Peninsular War because it also involved Portugal. By January 1810 the French had defeated the major Spanish armies and occupied most of the country, but Spanish guerrilla bands effectively harassed the French forces and kept them from either smashing the British army in Portugal or completely taking over Spain. Thus, a national assembly (1810-1813) could meet in Cádiz and proclaim a constitution that ended absolutist rule, established parliamentary government, suppressed the Inquisition, limited the power of the nobles and clergy, and instituted other reforms. Very advanced for its time, the constitution became a paramount issue in subsequent Spanish politics.

The war against Napoleon was a heroic period for Spain and contributed to his eventual downfall in Europe. Six years of warfare, however, greatly harmed the economy of Spain, and its American colonies began to win their independence. By 1826 only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule; the mainland colonies had all gained their freedom, and their resources were lost to Spain.

C.

The Troubled Monarchy

Ferdinand VII returned to Spain after Napoleon’s defeat in 1814. He at once abrogated the Cádiz constitution, restored absolutist rule, and instituted repressive policies against the liberals. Six years later a revolution led by army officers restored the constitution, but the liberals were unable to install effective rule, and Spain remained politically divided. Because the members of the Holy Alliance feared that revolution might spread across Europe, in 1823 they authorized French armies to quell the liberal regime. Thus, Ferdinand and absolutism were again restored.

C.1.

The Carlist War

In 1831 Ferdinand, who had no male heir, designated his infant daughter Isabella as his successor. His brother Carlos, however, appealed more to the political extremists; in 1833 they insisted that Carlos, rather than Isabella II, inherit the throne. This dynastic split resulted in civil war, with the Carlists ranged against the Cristinos, named after Isabella’s mother, Maria Christina, who acted as regent.

To win over the liberals, Maria Christina in 1834 granted a royal charter in lieu of a constitution. Carlist support came from rural areas of northern Spain (notably the Basque provinces and Catalonia), where the clergy’s influence was strong and centralized rule was resented. Spain’s more advanced areas were opposed to the Carlists, as were Portugal, Britain, and France, which aided the Cristinos. After a long struggle, the main Carlist forces were defeated in 1839. Victory had come slowly because continuous political conflict had weakened the anti-Carlist forces. Popular revolts had compelled Maria Christina in 1837 to grant a more liberal constitution than the 1834 charter. Her court was disrupted by intrigues, and she tried to manoeuvre the factions to her own advantage. In 1840, following a joint military-civilian revolt, Maria Christina resigned her regency and left Spain. Isabella was declared legally of age in 1843.

C.2.

Dissension and Crisis

The reign of Isabella was marked by the continued struggle between progressive and conservative liberals. Favoured by the court, the conservative side governed for most of the period from 1843 to 1866. Isabella’s absolutist tendencies and incompetence eventually alienated all major factions; they united to depose her in the “Glorious Revolution” of September 1868.

The revolution, which culminated in the democratic constitution of 1869, was soon overtaken by troubles. Cuba revolted against Spanish rule, in the Ten Years’ War. Several foreign princes rejected the invitation to assume the Spanish crown before Amadeus, son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, accepted it in December 1870. The Carlist movement re-emerged, and a radical Federal Republican movement gained ground.

Beset by army and political intrigues, social conflict, popular hostility against him, and the strain of the Cuban and Carlist insurrections, Amadeus abdicated in February 1873. Lacking viable alternatives, the parliament proclaimed the first Spanish republic. Political anarchy ensued. The republicans, a minority group, were deeply divided among themselves, with the radicals trying to impose by force their programme of extreme decentralization. Army intervention maintained a precarious balance until December 1874, when a group of generals turned against the republic and restored the Bourbon monarchy with Isabella’s son, Alfonso XII, as king.

C.3.

Restoration of the Monarchy

The government was determined not to repeat the errors of earlier years. The new constitution of 1876 was more flexibly applied than earlier documents; Conservative and Liberal parties alternated in office, and the court and the army stopped interfering in politics. Under the new conditions, the Carlist (1876) and Cuban (1878) insurrections were soon defeated, and for two decades Spain enjoyed greater political stability and economic prosperity than it had known since the 18th century. In 1895 another revolt began in Cuba. Much larger in scale than the 1868-1878 uprising, it was supported by the United States and led, in 1898, to the Spanish-American War. Badly defeated, Spain withdrew from Cuba and ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands to the United States.

After this defeat, anti-dynastic movements became more powerful. Republican parties re-emerged; a large anarchist movement took root among farm labourers in Andalusia and industrial workers in Barcelona; a small but solid socialist movement appeared in factories and mines in the Basque region and Asturias; and regionalist sentiments in Catalonia grew into demands for autonomy. Conflict also arose within the dynastic parties; after Conservative politician Antonio Maura took office in 1907, he alienated the Liberals by his imperious policies. In 1909 Maura tried to reinforce Spain’s military expedition against Morocco with worker conscripts from Barcelona, Spain’s most volatile city. This sparked a bloody rebellion that destroyed Maura’s career and deepened class antagonisms. A Liberal ministry under José Canalejas y Méndez replaced Maura, but its reform programme was cut short when Canalejas was assassinated in November 1912.

C.4.

World War I

Despite many pressures to become involved in World War I, Spain remained neutral, and the nation experienced an economic boom. Its industries, mines, and farms sold unprecedented quantities of their products abroad at record prices. At the same time, inflation arose and workers increased their demands for better wages and working conditions. Army personnel, upset over inadequate earnings and other grievances, formed military juntas to press their demands on the state.

In Catalonia, regionalists agitated for home rule. Republican parties also gathered force throughout Spain. Beginning in 1917, various movements, such as Syndicalism created crisis conditions. Demonstrations in Barcelona and other cities degenerated into urban terrorism by the anarcho-syndicalists. The crisis was exacerbated after 1919 by a struggle for independence in the Spanish sector of Morocco. Ruinously expensive, the Moroccan war became particularly unpopular when the rebels badly defeated Spanish forces at Anual in July 1921.

C.5.

Primo de Rivera’s Dictatorship

In September 1923 General Miguel Primo de Rivera led a military coup that gave vent to the widespread disillusionment with the parliamentary regime. Rather than resist, King Alfonso XIII accepted the coup and made Primo de Rivera head of the government. The Cortes was dissolved, and a military directorate took charge. Although there were few arrests and little police or army brutality, political parties were banned and Catalonia lost the few home-rule privileges it had acquired. Socialist trade unions continued to operate, however, and Primo de Rivera insisted that his dictatorship was only a temporary measure.

One of his main achievements was the conclusion, with French help, of the costly Moroccan war in 1926. Economic development became the chief concern of the new civilian government he had appointed. An extensive road network was built, and major irrigation works were undertaken. Opposition to his administration increased in 1928-1929, in part because of his extravagant fiscal policies. Alfonso accepted Primo de Rivera’s resignation in January 1930, but the onus attached to the dictatorship had weakened the Crown. Even Conservative politicians no longer enthusiastically supported the monarchy; Alfonso had betrayed them by accepting dictatorial rule. The socialist, anarcho-syndicalist, and Catalan regionalist movements began to cooperate with the Republicans, as did numerous former monarchists and army officers.

Efforts to overthrow the monarchy by force in December 1930 failed, but municipal elections in April 1931 gave such overwhelming majorities to Republican candidates in urban areas that Alfonso left Spain. The second Spanish republic was proclaimed at once, with Niceto Alcalá Zamora y Torres as President.

C.6.

Second Spanish Republic

The new republic had far wider support than its predecessor of 1873-1874, but some of its early adherents expected it to be conservative, while others wanted revolutionary change. Unfortunately, the republic came into being at a time not only of deepening worldwide economic depression, but also of intense ideological conflict throughout Europe. At first, a coalition of left-wing Republican parties and the Socialists, headed by Manuel Azaña, gave the republic a progressive tone. Falsified elections and other corrupt practices of the monarchy were ended, women gained the right to vote, Catalonia was granted autonomy, and the principle of home rule was extended to the Basque provinces.

Major social reforms were instituted, taxation became more equitable, and in 1932 a land-reform effort began to redistribute the large estates in southern Spain to the peasantry. A large-scale programme of irrigation and other public works was undertaken. Education was secularized, the Jesuit order was dissolved, and all Church-state ties were ended. So ambitious a programme was difficult to carry out, and the process alienated many groups that had at first accepted the republic. Azaña’s coalition began to crumble in 1933. Moderates saw the pace of social reform as too rapid; Socialists considered it indecisive. Opposition also increased among Roman Catholics, who resented Republican anti-clericism, and radicals, who wanted immediate social revolution.

In the elections of November 1933 right-wing and centre-right parties won a majority. The result was a partial revival of right-wing power, modification of the anti-clerical measures, and a weakening of land reform and other social legislation. Leftist forces reacted strongly against these changes. The tension exploded in October 1934, when a Socialist-led workers’ insurrection swept Asturias, and Catalonia proclaimed its independence from Madrid. After two weeks of savage fighting, the Asturian revolt was crushed. A further shift to the right then occurred, but only negative policies were pursued; the governing coalition fell apart in late 1935.

A new leftist coalition, the Popular Front, scored a narrow victory in the elections of February 1936. This coalition, also headed by Azaña, was less moderate than the previous one because the Socialists had become more radical and it now included the Communists. The leftist reform legislation was restored, and Azaña applied it with great vigour. Tension mounted as street battles between rival groups spread, peasants seized land, and strikes swept Spain. A conspiracy to overthrow the government took shape under General Emilio Mola, and by early July it had gained the support of thousands of military officers.

C.7.

The Spanish Civil War

On July 18, 1936, a military revolt against the government began, but it was soon defeated in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and several other eastern and northern cities. Thus, the country was divided between a rebel-held or Nationalist zone, generally in the agricultural areas, and a Republican or Loyalist zone, encompassing most industrial and other urban areas. A long civil war ensued. At first the rebel forces made great advances, reaching the outskirts of Madrid in November. The government, expecting the capital to fall, fled to Valencia. In a series of epic battles Madrid held firm, enabling the Loyalists to go on fighting.

Both sides soon received help from abroad. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany sent troops, arms and aircraft to aid the Nationalists. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) furnished military equipment and advisers to the Loyalists, who were also aided by the International Brigades, made up of idealistic volunteers from Europe and the Americas. Britain and France remained neutral.

The Nationalists displayed great unity and soon found a strong leader in General Francisco Franco. The Loyalists were more divided. Their forces included moderate and extreme Socialists, Catalan and Basque regionalists, and Communists, whose power rapidly expanded because of their organizational skills and Soviet aid. The Republican leader for most of the war was Juan Negrin, a moderate Socialist.

Following their failure at Madrid, Nationalist forces launched a difficult campaign (April-October 1937) to conquer the Basque Country, Asturias, and other industrial regions of northern Spain. The infamous German bombing of Guernica occurred during this campaign. The Loyalists began a counter-offensive in December at Teruel. Initially successful, it was beaten back by February 1938. The Nationalists then began an advance that reached the Mediterranean by mid-April, splitting the Republican zone in two. The Loyalists attacked Franco’s armies from the rear at the Ebro River, stopping the insurgent drive towards Valencia for several months; weakened by battle, however, they were unable to capitalize on their success. After the Munich Pact they could no longer realistically hope for British or French intervention on their behalf. When the insurgents resumed their offensive in December, the Loyalists retreated towards Barcelona, which fell on January 26, 1939. Deeply divided and utterly exhausted, they were incapable of further resistance. Madrid fell on March 28, and the civil war ended on April 1.

D.

The Franco Dictatorship

The savage war was followed by an unusually vindictive peace. Franco made no attempt at national reconciliation; Loyalists were seen as “reds” who had been “anti-Spain”. Hundreds of thousands were imprisoned, and perhaps 37,000 were executed during the first four years after the war. The Spanish people suffered greatly because of wartime damage and economic dislocation. Most of the Republican legislation favouring workers and peasants was immediately revoked.

The main political forces of this period were the army, the Church (which had developed close ties with Franco during the war), and the Falange, the small Spanish Fascist party that Franco had converted into an official state party in 1937. The army and the Falange often clashed, and during the early years of World War II, when Nazi Germany seemed unbeatable, the Falange tried to use its ideological affinity with the Axis Powers to make itself dominant. By 1942, however, Franco had achieved complete control over both the army and the Falange. His strong leadership was felt also in foreign affairs. Although he sympathized with the Axis Powers and was indebted to them for their help during the civil war, Franco resisted the pressures of German chancellor Adolf Hitler to enter the world war.

A cautious, pragmatic ruler, Franco shifted policy as the Allies began winning the war. Imprisonments dropped sharply, and executions practically ceased after 1943. The role played by the Falange was diminished, and some of the Fascist symbolism used by the regime was dropped. In 1947 Spain was declared a monarchy, although no king could assume the throne unless Franco died, was incapacitated, or decided to step down in his favour. The reform measures did not spare Franco from the Allies’ wrath in the years after the war. From 1946 to 1950 the United Nations (UN) ostracized his regime, and many countries cut off diplomatic and other relations with Spain. With the complicity of France, guerrilla warfare revived in northern Spain. In addition, a severe drought aggravated the misery and hunger that Spaniards had been enduring since 1939.

D.1.

The Re-Emergence of Spain

With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Franco began to be seen as an important ally against communism. The UN ban was lifted in November, US banks made loans to Spain, and the papacy openly recognized the regime’s legitimacy. In September 1953 the United States gave Spain important military and economic aid in return for the right to use several Spanish air and naval bases. Finally, in December 1955, Spain was admitted to the UN. The origins of Franco’s dictatorship were not completely forgotten; many European nations remained unfriendly, and Spain was refused membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Still, open hostility ended, and Spain was again allowed to function within the international arena.

The regime also underwent gradual normalization at home. Agricultural and industrial production returned to pre-civil war levels in 1952. A crisis marked by student agitation and labour unrest in 1955-1956 led first to a further diminution of Falangist power and then, in February 1957, to a major Cabinet reorganization that increased business and workers’ representation. Hundreds of restrictive state controls over business were dropped as Spain attempted to integrate itself into the world economy. Labour relations also were eased after strikes by coal miners in March 1958 led the regime to grant workers the right to negotiate directly with employers on wages and working conditions. The great irrigation projects started earlier and continued by Franco began to bear fruit in the late 1950s.

The possibility that these positive domestic trends might be upset by decolonization struggles abroad was avoided when the regime disengaged itself from Spanish Morocco in 1958. The decade culminated in the stabilization plan of 1959. Severe austerity measures brought hardships to workers and many others, but they succeeded in controlling the Spanish economy.

D.2.

The Economic Miracle

From 1961 on, unprecedented socio-economic change occurred. The economy boomed because of rapid industrial growth and a substantial rise in tourism, as well as foreign investment in Spain and money sent home by Spanish workers abroad. Owing to a growing labour shortage, wages increased, unofficial trade unions were organized, and agriculture was mechanized to avoid high labour costs. Greater worker prosperity brought rapid social change: there was massive migration from rural to urban areas; secondary and university education expanded enormously; and the people became more secularized and sophisticated as their exposure to contemporary ways of life increased. The Franco regime, fundamentally pragmatic and technologically oriented after 1957, provided the framework within which growth could occur. The massive housing programme sponsored by the government greatly eased the social costs of Spain’s transition from a rural to an urban society.

Although these socio-economic changes were accompanied by some political liberalization, the dictatorship continued to be oppressive. In 1962, reacting to strikes in Asturias and a meeting of opposition forces in Munich, Franco instituted martial law. In 1970 serious repression again threatened when several members of a new Basque separatist organization, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (“Basque Homeland and Freedom”; ETA), were sentenced to death in trials held in Burgos.

In part because of international pressure, the government backed down in these crises. Martial law was soon lifted, and the ETA death sentences were commuted. Liberalization was also expressed in a series of fundamental laws passed between 1966 and 1969. One law increased freedom of the press; another made the Cortes somewhat more representative and augmented its powers; a third recognized Spain’s official status as a monarchy by naming Juan Carlos, grandson of Alfonso XIII, as successor to the throne after Franco’s death. The gradual liberalization was also evident abroad: the West African colony of Spanish Guinea was granted independence as Equatorial Guinea in 1968; seven years later the government agreed to cede Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania.

D.3.

Last Years of Franco’s Regime

Liberalization and prosperity did not end social and political unrest. Although walkouts remained illegal, many strikes occurred in Spain during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Students protested against overcrowded facilities and government control. Catalan regionalists again became politically active. By far the most important conflict arose in the Basque Country, where the ETA launched terrorist attacks against the police and army. The government responded with indiscriminate repression, and a vicious cycle of violence and counterviolence gripped the Basque provinces from 1969 to 1975.

This contrasted sharply with the relatively infrequent violence, by either the government or its opponents, elsewhere in Spain. The regime was severely shaken in 1973 when Premier Luis Carrero Blanco was assassinated by the ETA. Instead of reverting to massive repression, however, the new premier, Carlos Arias Navarro, announced further liberalization measures, including plans for the formation of political associations, which had been forbidden since 1939. These moves sparked a revolt by hard-core Falangists, who sought a return to a strong dictatorship. For a brief period it seemed they might succeed. Arias’s attempted reforms were sabotaged. A law was passed requiring the death penalty for terrorists who killed police, and five were executed in September 1975. The possibility of further moves to the right ended when Franco died on November 20, 1975.

E.

The Restoration of Democracy

Franco’s death and the succession of King Juan Carlos I were followed by several months of political ambiguity. The new king favoured full democratization, but many powerful interests were against change. On the other hand, reform measures that had been daring under the dictatorship now seemed insufficient to most people. The deadlock was broken in July 1976 when Navarro resigned at the request of Juan Carlos, who appointed Adolfo Suárez González as the new premier.

E.1.

Suárez

A moderate Falangist, Suárez became chief architect of Spain’s successful transition to democracy. Suárez convinced the Cortes to annul the restrictive legislation Franco had left behind and to accept the Political Reform Law, which was approved by referendum in December 1976. Despite strong army objections, in April 1977 he legalized the Communist Party. In June the first democratic elections in four decades reaffirmed his centrist policies. His newly formed party, the Union of the Democratic Centre (UDC), won 34 per cent of the vote, with the Socialists a close second. Hardly any votes went to extremists, either of the left or right.

In 1978 the Cortes passed a new democratic constitution, providing for a constitutional monarchy, freedom for political parties, and autonomy for Spain’s “nationalities and regions”. The constitution was enthusiastically accepted by most sectors of society, but the Basque provinces still resented being tied to Spain and supported the ETA, which stepped up its terrorist activities. Meanwhile, Catalans pushed for greater control over local affairs, and demanded greater language rights. The use of Catalan and nationalist sentiments increased in and around Barcelona. The Galicians consistently distanced themselves from Madrid, though ethno-regionalism is weaker in Galicia than in either Catalonia or Basque Country.

Suárez governed through consensus, consulting all non-extremist parties when formulating basic policy. Catalonia and the Basque Country were granted home rule, and their languages were officially recognized. The constitution extended similar privileges to 15 other regions. Thus, the movement towards political centralization begun by Ferdinand and Isabella some 500 years earlier was reversed, and a “Spain of autonomous communities” was created.

Suárez, brilliantly successful under crisis conditions, proved less effective as a day-to-day administrator, and troubles appeared after the 1979 elections. The rightist segments of the UDC, hitherto subdued, reasserted themselves. His policy of consensus with other parties broke down. The economy was deteriorating badly. In January 1981 Suárez resigned, and was succeeded by deputy prime minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo.

E.2.

Attempted Coup

The long-simmering resentment in military circles against rapid change produced dangerous conspiracies, and on February 23, 1981, armed civil guards invaded the Cortes in an attempt to seize power. King Juan Carlos narrowly foiled the coup by convincing most of the military units to remain loyal to the government. Calvo Sotelo formed a new Council of Ministers, and during his term dealt with numerous difficult issues, including his decision to enter Spain in NATO in 1982. Continued grumbling within the armed forces, political disputes, and a precarious economy left Spain less than stable for many months.

E.3.

The González Era

Shortly before the October 1982 elections, a plot by right-wing extremists to stage a military coup was discovered. Four military leaders were arrested and three imprisoned. The elections were won decisively by the Socialist Workers’ Party, led by Felipe González Márquez. Under González, the party had begun to shed its Marxist principles in 1979, and this process was completed during its first years in office. From November 1984 to the end of 1985, protests and demonstrations were staged against education reform, government restructuring policies, membership of NATO, unemployment, and social security reforms.

A crucial referendum in 1986 enabled Spain to remain in NATO. Socialist policies that favoured business, a worldwide economic recovery, and Spain’s entry into the European Community (later the EU) in 1986 combined to initiate a major economic revival. In addition, the increasingly dynamic role Spain played in European affairs and its cultural blossoming in numerous fields gave rise to greater self-confidence than Spaniards had known since the 18th century.

Spain and the United States renewed their bilateral defence agreement in 1988, allowing the continued use of bases in Spain by the United States for an additional eight years. The question of sovereignty of the British dependent territory of Gibraltar remained an unresolved issue between the United Kingdom and Spain. Gradual deregulation of the economy, begun in 1975, continued into the 1990s. The monopolistic rights of many state-owned companies were eliminated, trade union laws relaxed, and restrictions loosened on establishing new companies.

Although the Socialist Workers’ Party and González were returned to office in the elections of 1986 and 1989, industrial workers now became the most dissatisfied sector of society because of high inflation and unemployment. After 1990 there were several corruption scandals involving government officials. Even so, the mood of the Spanish people was improved in 1992 as the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona and a world fair was held in Seville to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s first voyage to America. In the 1993 elections, González remained prime minister as head of a coalition government. The Socialists, however, failed to get a majority, forcing González into a more vulnerable political position.

The issue of ethno-regionalism continued to be an important concern. More than 800 had people died as a result of ETA violence between 1968 and 1993. By January 1994, a growing peace movement helped to sway public opinion against ETA’s violent tactics, and prospects for productive negotiations with the central government seemed promising. In February 1994 Jordi Pujol, leader of Catalonia’s main national party, Catalonia Convergencia i Unió (CiU), presented demands for increased Catalonian self-government to Prime Minister González, focusing on control of transport services and police forces. However, popular sentiment in both Catalonia and the Basque provinces seemed to favour greater autonomy but not complete independence from Spain.

E.4.

The Aznar Administration

González and the Socialists fell from power after the general election of March 1996, ending 13 years of Socialist rule. The conservative Popular Party (PP), led by José María Aznar, formed a new government with the support of smaller, regional parties. Aznar came to power courtesy of an electorate that had been driven by dissatisfaction with corrupt Socialist government to overcome a distrust of even moderate right-wing politics inherited from the Franco era. The new government immediately tackled Spain’s budget deficit, provoking some discontent. In October and November 1996 workers demonstrated against a public-sector pay freeze, and in December civil servants staged a 24-hour strike, joined by protesting students and teachers. Also in December, the Supreme Court voted not to pursue charges against González and other prominent Socialists over alleged complicity with anti-ETA death squads during the 1980s. In January 1997 Spain made a new offer to the United Kingdom of joint sovereignty over Gibraltar, which was rejected. A lorry drivers’ strike in February against government transport reforms closed Spain’s road borders. The release of previously secret documents on Spain’s anti-ETA “dirty war” in March 1997 reopened the possibility of a trial for González. In April the government introduced an economic stability plan to allow for participation in European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999.

The murder of Miguel Angel Blanco, a young Basque PP councillor, by ETA in July 1997 provoked national outrage and mass anti-ETA demonstrations; ETA had taken Blanco hostage over its long-standing demand to relocate ETA prisoners to jails in the Basque Country. In October 1997 the entire leadership of Herri Batasuna (HB), the Basque separatist party linked to ETA, was put on trial for collaboration with terrorism. In the same month, the Supreme Court ordered the trial of former Socialist ministers on charges relating to the 1980s anti-ETA “dirty war”, though exonerating González himself. The HB leadership was found guilty and imprisoned in December 1997; ETA retaliated by killing three more councillors in December and January 1998. Spain officially announced in February 1998 that the budget deficit had been reduced enough to allow for participation in EMU in 1999. In March 1998 it was revealed that right-wing media figures had plotted in 1994 to force Juan Carlos to abdicate in order to destabilize the country. In September ETA announced a ceasefire in its campaign of separatist violence. This was followed in October 1998 by local elections, which returned a nationalist administration to power in the Basque region.

In January 2000 a car bomb exploded in Madrid, killing an army officer and marking the start of a renewed campaign of violence by ETA. Over a million people demonstrated in the streets of Madrid, Bilbao, and Pamplona in the following days. Violence instigated by ETA is estimated to have killed nearly 800 people in the past 30 years. At the general election in March, José María Aznar's Popular Party won a clear majority, meaning that for the first time since General Franco died in 1975 a right-leaning political party would control the government.

In early 2001, despite pressure from both opposition parties and humanitarian groups, the new right-wing government introduced tough immigration laws that allowed for the immediate expulsion of immigrants. In March 2001 thousands took to the streets to protest against the continuing violence of ETA. However, ETA’s terrorist campaign continued with bombing attacks on coastal tourist resorts as well as on judges and politicians.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US cities of New York and Washington, D.C., by suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists, there was an increased worldwide drive on countering terrorism and in Spain there was a major breakthrough in October when a number of ETA suspects were arrested.

In late 2000 Britain and Spain agreed to reach a deal over the disputed territory of Gibraltar. However, in protest at any suggestion of Spanish involvement in their future, thousands of Gibraltarians, thought to be the vast majority of the population of the island, demonstrated in the streets against the idea of joint sovereignty. Plans for joint sovereignty continued to be discussed with the UK government, though Gibraltarians countered with their own referendum that rejected any such suggestion. In January 1, 2002, Spain adopted Euro notes and coins alongside 11 other European neighbours.

In June the EU summit was held in Seville. Demonstrators took the opportunity to hold a general strike at the same time. Additionally, bomb blasts attributed to ETA took place in various coastal resorts. A dispute over the tiny island of Perejil (Leila) 200 m (650 ft) off the Moroccan coast, took place in July 2002 when Moroccan troops invaded the island. They were quickly repulsed by Spanish forces since Spain also claims sovereignty over the island. US Secretary of State Colin Powell brokered a deal by which both Spain and Morocco agreed to remove permanent encampments from the 1 km (0.5 mi) long island.

An ecological disaster resulted from the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige in November 2002, which broke up off the Galician coast. It spilled an estimated 25,000 tonnes of oil that polluted not only the coastline of Galicia, but also beaches in France and Portugal.

Prime Minister Aznar was one of the most vocal supporters of the coalition forces’ involvement in the War on Iraq launched in 2003. More than 100 Spanish troops were deployed in the region.

In March 2004, 191 people were killed in a series of terrorist explosions aboard morning rush-hour commuter trains in Madrid. The incident occurred a matter of days before Spain’s general election and the ruling PP was quick to blame ETA for the massacre. Later evidence instead suggested the involvement of Moroccan groups. Aznar had already decided to stand down at the election but it was thought that the PP would win the election and Aznar’s successor as prime minister would be Mariano Rajoy.

In the vote the Socialists under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero confounded the opinion polls and won 42 per cent of the vote and 164 seats in the Congress of Deputies. Many observers felt that the former administration’s rush to blame ETA for the Madrid atrocity for political gain had counted it. Others acknowledged that the Socialist’s aim to withdraw troops from an increasingly violent and unstable Iraq had contributed to the party’s victory.

E.5.

Zapatero’s Administration

Zapatero was sworn in in April 2004 and immediately ordered the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq. Other proposed legislation concerned a “gender violence law” aimed at eradicating domestic violence against women and other such policy matters striving for the equality of the sexes, as well as homosexual rights and the liberalization of abortion. In a direct move Zapatero appointed eight women to his Cabinet, including the country’s first woman deputy prime minister. In February 2005 the country voted in favour of the EU constitution in a referendum, the first in Europe to be held on the issue. The referendum was largely notable for the poor turnout: only 42 per cent.

In June 2006 Zapatero announced that he was willing to open discussions with ETA, after the group had called a ceasefire in March. However, the discussions were derailed after ETA renewed its operations with a bombing at Madrid’s Barajas airport in December, killing two people. The failure of Zapatero’s initiative exposed his government to criticism from the PP that it had been willing to compromise with terrorists. Also controversial was the government’s proposed “law on historical memory”, which condemned the actions of the Franco government and sanctioned the removal of all remaining public symbols of the dictatorship. Although it was opposed by the PP, which accused Zapatero of seeking to reopen old divisions, the Spanish parliament approved the bill in October 2007. Also in October guilty verdicts were handed down to a number of people involved in the Madrid train bombings of 2004. In March 2008 the PSOE was re-elected for a second term. Although it gained five more seats in parliament, the party failed to win enough seats to govern with an absolute majority.