13. The Turn of the Tide: The Sick Man of Europe¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter 13: The Turn of the Tide: The Sick Man of Europe¶
This chapter dissects the Spanish transition to democracy as a process of class containment, not liberation. Between 1977 and 1979, a severe economic crisis gripped Spain: industry operated at only 80% capacity, steel at 74%, and shipbuilding at 60%. Emigration, once a safety valve, was blocked by European protectionism. The government’s monetary tightening under Fuentes Quintana slashed money supply growth from 23% to 10%, triggering mass bankruptcies and factory closures. In Guipúzcoa, unemployment reached 24.54%, with 88 bankruptcies in a single month. The temporary improvement in the balance of payments stemmed from devaluation and a collapsed home market, not genuine recovery.
Political violence escalated alongside economic distress. Police shot dead 18-year-old Manuel José García Caparrós during an Andalusian autonomy march in December 1977. In July 1978, police fired live bullets into the San Fermín bullring, killing Germán Rodríguez. Fascist gangs operated with impunity, often alongside the police. Yet the workers’ movement peaked: 3.8 million workers struck in 1978, and 5.7 million in early 1979. Union affiliation reached 50% of the working class. However, union leaders accepted government-imposed wage caps, undermining the struggles. The PCE, under Carrillo, abandoned Leninism at its 1978 congress, pursuing parliamentary alliances with Suárez and neglecting mass struggle. Carrillo represented Lenin’s break with the Second International’s 1914 betrayal as a historic mistake, which logically meant the PCE had no reason to exist. The party’s declared policy was for a government of national concentration including all parties from the PCE to the ultra-right Popular Alliance. Carrillo admitted publicly what Stalinists had long practised: a line of reformism and class collaborationism indistinguishable from social democracy.
The Suárez government was a fragile construct, torn by splits. Faced with militant working-class resistance, it could not impose wage cuts. The 1979 general election saw turnout fall from 78.8% to 68%. The PCE’s campaign was indistinguishable from the PSOE or UCD, causing a transfer of votes to the larger PSOE. The UCD won 168 seats, the PSOE 121, and the PCE 23. At PCE rallies, those raising the tricolour flag were beaten by party stewards, not police. The PCE was the only party keen to support Suárez unconditionally. In the April 1979 municipal elections, workers’ parties won a crushing victory in major cities. The new Cortes saw a sharp increase in radical nationalist deputies. The Suárez government vacillated between repression and concession on regional autonomy, rejecting self-determination. PSOE and PCE leaders publicly backed Suárez’s position. A mass demonstration for amnesty was fired on by Civil Guards, killing one; 500,000 workers struck in the Basque Country, but the PCE refused to support the general strike.
In autumn 1979, 5.7 million workers struck. The government’s draft Workers’ Statute represented a clear step backward. On 14 October, 400,000 workers gathered in Madrid. Union leaders had no intention of overthrowing the government. Marcelino Camacho resigned his parliamentary seat in protest at PCE support for UCD labour policies. Hundreds of thousands of students protested against the Teaching Institutes Statute and University Autonomy Law. On 13 December, police fired live ammunition on protesters, killing two students. The PCE leaders again failed to call a general strike. The UGT signed the AMI social pact, imposing salary caps. Workers’ salaries lost four per cent purchasing power in 1979. After legalisation, union membership grew from 200,000 to nearly 4 million by 1978. The Moncloa Pacts marked a turning point; CCOO leaders moved right, competing with UGT to placate government. CCOO lost its overwhelming working-class support, suffering bureaucratisation. In 1982 union elections, UGT secured 36.5 per cent against CCOO’s 32.74 per cent. From 1979 to 198