WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN SPAIN SINCE 1975?

Today, Spain is a democracy. Every four years there are elections to choose the government.
After Juan Carlos became king in 1975, the transition to democracy began. It ended in 1978 with a new constitution. Important reforms were introduced by the Prime Minister, Adolfo Suarez.

By Verhoeff, Bert / Anefo (Nationaal Archief) [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

• All political parties were made legal.
• There was a democratic election in 1977.
• A new constitution was written.

By Infinauta (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 In 1978 people voted in favor of the constitution in a referendum. It established that:
Citizens have rights and responsibilities. Everyone must obey the law.
Citizens vote for their representatives freely in elections.
Spain recognizes regional autonomy.
Spain is a parliamentary monarchy. The monarch is head of state but doesn´t govern or make laws.
Government is separated into three branches: the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Since the transition two parties have governed Spain most of the time: the Socialist party (PSOE) and the Popular party (PP).
In 1981 there was an attempt military coup against the government led by Tejero. It failed.

Tejero. Photo by Manuel Pérez Barriopedro

In 1986 Spain became a member of the EEC (now UE).

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In 1992 the euro replaced the peseta as Spain´s currency.

By Iu96 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Avij (talk · contribs) (Own work) [ECB decisions ECB/2003/4 and ECB/2003/5 or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</a>