Eduardo González
This Sunday marks the 48th anniversary of the first democratic elections in Spain since 1936. These elections were supposed to lay the groundwork for ending Franco’s regime and getting back on track.
One of the most important challenges was implementing a foreign policy that would help restore international normalcy. The main milestones of this policy were, in 1977, the reestablishment of relations with Mexico, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the USSR, and accession to the Council of Europe.
UCD
The foreign policy section of the electoral platform of the Democratic Center Union (UCD), the coalition led by Adolfo Suárez that won with 34.4% of the vote and 166 seats, began with a declaration of intent very common at the time: “a broad consensus in which all political forces can participate was needed, thus revitalizing the State’s capacity for foreign action and placing Spain in the international arena at the level of influence that its tradition and capacity justify.”
The UCD’s international priorities were the West, Ibero-America, and the Mediterranean. Curiously, the platform made no mention of a topic as hotly debated at the time as Spain’s relationship with NATO, but it did expand on the need to build “a united Europe,” in which “Spain must accept its responsibility to participate in the defense of that whole.”
PSOE
The PSOE, which came in second with 29.3% of the vote and 118 seats, presented, under the heading “Opening Spain to the World,” an electoral platform whose main objective was to overcome the foreign policy of the Franco regime, which had oscillated “between a narrowly nationalist and isolationist policy and a de facto surrender to foreign domination by the great powers and multinational corporations.”
The objective of the party led by Felipe González was to maintain “relations with all states and peoples on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.” “In this opening of Spain to the world, Europe plays a fundamental role,” continued the PSOE, which advocated the country’s entry into the Council of Europe and, “as a full member, into the European Communities (the current EU).”
Furthermore, the party opposed the signing of “any treaty or alliance, bases, or military relations” that were not approved by Parliament or through a referendum, and advocated “the definitive decolonization of Gibraltar” in “a democratic context and with local autonomy.”
PCE
The PCE, the third-largest party with 9.3% of the vote and 20 seats (and legalized just two months earlier), based its electoral platform on the Manifesto-Program approved by the party in September 1975 (shortly before Franco’s death). Its main ideas were the defense of “a policy of non-alignment” that would help overcome “existing military blocs,” “clear and resounding” opposition to “our country’s planned entry into NATO,” and the achievement of “a Spain without foreign military bases.”
Likewise, Santiago Carrillo’s party supported Spain’s integration into the European Communities, defended the recovery of Gibraltar, which “is part of Spain, and that is non-negotiable,” and advocated for the self-determination of Western Sahara and the development of relations with Latin America “without outdated paternalism.”
AP
The fourth place in the elections, with 8.2% and 16 seats, went to Alianza Popular (AP), the predecessor of the current PP and founded by former Francoist leaders. In its Common Program, AP advocated “a dignified and prestigious foreign policy for Spain that defines its own identity within the concert of nations and safeguards its interests in today’s complex world.”
To this end, the coalition led by Manuel Fraga proposed “incorporation into Europe and Western defense, close cooperation with peoples of Hispanic origin, active and efficient participation in international organizations, and streamlining our representation abroad,” in addition to maintaining “the permanent claim to Gibraltar.”