Abstract

In order to understand the first years of Spain's democratic regime and the behaviour of the main political and social actors, we must examine the initiatives of political groups opposed to Franco's dictatorship. This leads to a better comprehension of the politics of agreements and consensus which characterised the transition, and of the political equilibrium which the 1978 constitution embodies. Beside sketching a general outline of the political transition, up to the stabilisation of the new democratic regime, this article contends that the traumatic memory of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was an essential element in determining the ways and outcomes of Spain's transition to democracy, as well as the behaviour of both political élites and society. As a matter of fact, this memory was very often recalled in several key moments of the transition, in order both to narrow the distance between seemingly incompatible political positions, and to uphold the idea of consensus as the only acceptable ground on which the new institutions could be based.