Home » Politics & Society » European Politics » Elections in Spain: Aznar’s Triumph

Elections in Spain: Aznar’s Triumph

© Peter Weber

In the last four years the Popular Party has governed beholden in Congress to the external support of the Catalan Convergence and Union led by Jordi Pujol. This informal partner has been able to wring concessions out of the centralist Popular Party in many fields, especially as regards the competencies and autonomies of regions. Though never really as brilliant as his predecessor Gonzalez, Aznar has thus managed to keep the Spanish government working efficiently and according to the Economist his "brand of cautious and consensual government has clearly dispelled the ghosts of the authoritarian past that have haunted Spain´s right since the death of General Franco in 1975".

The Basque problem

No settlement was found however for the Basque question. Last December, after a 14-month truce, the Basque terror organization ETA has returned to violence. The regional question is therefore due to remain on the table. On 13th March the mainstream Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has won 7 seats in the Congress (+2 seats), but on the whole the Basque representation was cut, since the more extreme Basque parties have lost after the electoral boycott called by Herri Batasuna, the party closest to ETA.

The biggest gain in the Basque region was reached by Aznar´s Popular Party, which conquered a remarkable 28% in the trouble-region. After this unexpected success for the party that most fiercely opposes the requests for Basque independence, the Basque Nationalists who run the regional assembly must now fear that the support for separatism will diminish further, especially if ETA continues its bombing.

Levels of regional autonomy

This particularity of Aznar´s success gives him now an even more credible mandate for rearranging the relations between the Spanish central state and the regions. The question whether Spain is a nation or a union of regional nationalities has been around for centuries. The actual settlement is the result of a pragmatic dialogue in the years after Franco´s death. After referendums in the three historical regions Cataluña, Galicia and the Basque provinces, these as well as Andalusia were granted a special status with large autonomies. Other regions were recognized soon afterwards, but with minor autonomies.

As a result Spain is now composed of 17 autonomous communities with three several levels of autonomy. Though the system is working, the discussion lingers on, since the new regions try to reach the status of the historical ones. Their request to bring into line all autonomies is however opposed in the historical regions as well as in Madrid. Up to now the Socialists seemed always more open towards decentralization, but after the pragmatic handling of the question during the last legislation period Aznar is now expected to make a new proposal.