First Elections and The Draft of The Constitution
The elections that were held on June 15, 1977, confirmed the existence of four important political forces at the national level. The votes broke down in the following manner:
- Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD, Unión de Centro Democrático): 34.61%
- Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, Partido Socialista Obrero Español): 29.27%
- Communist Party of Spain (PCE, Partido Comunista de España): 9.38%
- Popular Alliance (AP, Alianza Popular): 8.33%
With the success of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV, Partido Nacionalista Vasco) and the Democratic Pact for Catalonia (PDC, Pacte Democrátic per Catalunya) in their respective regions, nationalist parties also began to show their political strength in these elections.
The Constituent Cortes (elected Spanish parliament) began to draft a constitution in the summer of 1977. In 1978 the Moncloa Pact was passed: an agreement amongst politicians, political parties, and trade unions to plan how to operate the economy during the transition. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 went on to be approved in a referendum on the December 6, 1978.
Read more about this topic: Spanish Transition To Democracy
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