The Spanish

Laberynth: Is the oldest

European nation about to
breakup?
José Ángel Ruiz Jiménez
University of Banja Luka
May 2017
The hazardous construction of Spain
•Dios, patria, rey (God, land, king)

•National sobereingty
(Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Slobod
a, jednakost, bratstvo)

•Liberal capitalism Vs Communism

•Globalization
The Catholic Kings: loose union
The Habsbourg: Empire
 The Bourbon centralisation
• Spanish War of Sucession
1702-15
• French Phillip of France Vs
Archduke Charles of Austria
• European War
• Aragon supports Charles
• Spain's centralised
government on theSpanish
Crown
• Decretos de Nueva Planta
1707-1716
 Spanish Peninsular War

• First patriotic war all over

the country
Fernando VII (1814-33) and Isabella II (1833-68)
Liberal democracy Vs conservatism

• Inestability and lack of

steady political course
• Permanent fight among
Conservative
Moderados,
Progressives and Unión
Liberals
• Carlist wars
• 1868 Glorious revolution
• ¡Viva España con
honra!
Sexenio Democrático 1868-1874
• Advanced liberal
democratic
reforms
• Extreme political
inestability
• Cantonalismo ends
the republican
experience
 Bourbon Restoration (1874-1931)
• Constitutional monarchy
• British tailored alternation
model
• Stability increasingly
burdened by caciquismo ,
nationalism and working
class unions
 Alfonso XIII and Primo de Rivera
 13 governments (1917-
23): strikes, street
terrorism, War in
Morocco, nationalism
 Dictatorship (1923-1930)
supported by the king,
the army, catalan
bourgeoise, The Church
ans socialist
 Centralización against
separatism and caciques
 The Italian reference
 El país no se impresiona ya
con películas de esencias
liberales y democráticas;
quiere orden, trabajo y
economía.

Miguel Primo de Ribera, after

relieving the presidents of
the Senate and the
Congress in 1923
 Directorio civil (1925-30)

 Single Party system: Unión

Patriótica, La Nación
 Banning of civil rights, trade
unions, free press, non
national languages and
symbols
 Public works and companies
 Plus Ultra and International
International Exhibitions in
Barcelona and Sevilla´29
 II Republic (1930-36)
 Popular enthusiam
 Loose agreement
among all opposition
forces
• Ambitious but
intermittent
liberal democratic
agrarian,
religious,
educational, and
social reforms
• Harassed and
cornered liberal
democracy
Civil War 1936-39
 Franco’s dictatorship 1939-75
• Spain, Una, grande y
libre
• Centralism, catholicism,
tradition, militarism,
repression, censhorship
• From fascism to anti-
communism
• Successful economy
after 1960
 Transition to democracy 1975-82
• Unprecedented
consensus
• Constitutional
monarchy
• Decentralization:
Autonomous
communities
Cambio 16 (1971) y Diario 16
(1976)
El País (1976)
Independentist flags
15M and indignados movement