The 1930s municipal elections that put an end to the monarchy in Spain
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Thursday, July 20, 2023
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We have seen this in the case of referendums that were intended as mere ratification procedures.
Key Points:
- We have seen this in the case of referendums that were intended as mere ratification procedures.
- This was partly the case of the Spanish municipal and regional elections on 28 May.
- Almost a century ago, another call for local elections led to the fall of the Spanish Monarchy and the birth of the Second Republic.
The Republican 14 April
- Another one, the encasillado), saw designated ministers from the incoming government allocate seats to MPs in a bid to help them secure the comfortable majority required to govern.
- However, the system gradually deteriorated, reaching its worst point under the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930).
- Deeply unpopular under the dictatorship, King Alfonso XIII sought to burnish his credentials by returning to the previous political system.
- In Madrid and Barcelona, the Republican opposition managed to respectively triple and quadruple the scores of monarchist candidates.
- That meant that local and provincial councils maintained their Francoist composition for more than three additional years after the dictator’s death.
A coin toss
- On 12 March 1986, prime minister Felipe González honoured his electoral pledge by calling a referendum on Spain’s membership of NATO.
- They were joined by some dissident leaders, the Socialist Youth and the (then still) sister union of the UGT.
- Although the “No” vote won in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre and the Canary Islands, “Yes” triumphed overall with 56.85%.
- Regardless of who ends up losing out on 23 July, the fact is that such agonising approaches alienate citizen consensus and democratic quality.