2. The Reawakening – 1960-73¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter 2: The Reawakening – 1960-73¶
The 1960s witnessed the resurgence of the Spanish proletariat, a force that would shake the Francoist dictatorship to its foundations. The strike wave that erupted under the regime had no parallel in working-class history, fracturing the ruling class and generating immense pressure from below. Superficial commentators fixated on splits within the regime, but these were merely a distorted reflection of the colossal pressure exerted by the working class. The strike movement did not merely challenge Franco; it ultimately undermined and overthrew him.
The decisive turning point came with the 1962 Asturian miners’ strike. A spontaneous walkout at the Nicolasa mine on 7 April spread rapidly, drawing in nearly 500,000 workers across twenty-four provinces for over eight weeks. The regime declared the strikes illegal, imposed a state of siege, and deployed violent repression, but the movement gained unstoppable momentum. On 24 May, the regime capitulated, granting wage increases. This victory had far-reaching effects, triggering wage rises in other industries and eventually leading to the nationalisation of Spanish mines. Out of these struggles emerged the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), an underground trade union organisation that bypassed the regime’s vertical unions. Initially a grass-roots movement, the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) became increasingly dominant, using the CCOO to win elections for factory shop stewards within the fascist union structure. By 1975, the CCOO held a majority of workers’ representatives in major enterprises, counting 200,000 militants by the end of 1976. The strike movement escalated dramatically: working days lost rose from 184,000 in 1966 to 21 million in 1979.
The regime faced growing challenges, including the 1970 Burgos trial of ETA militants, which became a focal point of opposition. The trial provoked mass strikes across Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya, with around 100,000 workers walking out. Franco was forced to commute death sentences under international pressure. The strike wave intensified: in 1970 there were four times as many strikes as in 1969, and two-and-a-half times more in 1971 than 1970. By 1973, Spain lost 11,120,250 working hours to disputes, exceeding the combined total of West Germany, Belgium, Holland and Denmark. The rising cost of living, unofficially up forty per cent on basic necessities, drove militancy. The regime arrested the entire CCOO leadership in 1972, leading to the ‘1,001 Court Process’. On the day the trial was due to start, 20 December 1973, ETA assassinated Prime Minister Carrero Blanco. The assassination triggered a new wave of repression, including a state of emergency in the Basque Country, thousands of arrests, and draconian anti-terrorist laws. The text argues that terrorism is futile and counterproductive, strengthening the state and undermining working-class self-organisation; mass strikes and demonstrations were far more significant than isolated armed actions.