PDF 6.3

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6.3.- Contents
1.From Transition to Constitution
The 1978 Constitution was the result of a historic process called the “transition”. Since
Franco’s death in 1975 until the promulgation of the Constitution in 1978 a certain amount of
time passed which marked the leap from dictatorship to democracy, from a non-democratic
political system to a democratic one. This movement from one political system to another
one received the name “transition” because it didn’t happen through political reform. The
protagonists of the period debated between three possible solutions:
Involution, mantaining the principles of the former system.
Revolution, breaking with everything in order to create a new system.
Reform, a progressive change from one system to another.
Although the term “transition” is used to name the political period, it actually
describes all the political, legal, social and cultural changes. All these changes led to a
process whose result was the constitutional text.
The process began some months before Franco’s death, after the assassination of Admiral
Carrero Blanco (13th of December 1973), when the new president, Carlos Arias Navarro
made a political speech proclaiming that social conditions in Spain had changed. The legal
predictions of the Fundamental Laws (former regime) had ignored political realities
(expectations of change). Although it was said that “everything was well tied down”, the
Fundamental Laws were unclear and open to interpretation. Arias Navarro said that the
former political system was based on joining things together and the new one on
participation.
The new government consolidated the expectations of change when the law on local
administration was enacted. It accepted, without exception, universal suffrage and a decree
law of association that would be tolerant to organised groups. Until then associations were
not defined as the exercising of a citizen's right, rather they were a means of political
control.
After Franco’s death on the 22nd of December 1975, the Parliament
and the Council of the
Kingdom met in order to
constitutionally proclaim the
King. After the changes that
followed Franco’s death, the
government of Arias Navarro
suffered a crisis, which saw
Adolfo Suárez González come
in as the new president. A
new strategy appeared in
which a fundamental law was
substituted by the authorities and new instruments
(Parliament, Referendum) that could be presented as the will of the nation were created. On
the 15th of December 1976 the Law for Political Reform was brought to referendum. This was
a decisive instrument of the political transition because:
- The people became a decisive element of political reform.
- The parliament would be a representative organ and have two chambers that would write
the new constitution.
- A pluralist system of parties was established and for the Constituent Parliamentary
elections, held the 15th of June 1977, a new system was established.
Activities
1. Define the "transition" in your own words.
2. Look for more information about the "personalities" mentioned on this page.
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2. The "Fathers" of the Constitution
The elaboration of the Constitution was made possible because of the understanding
and will to listen and get on with each other shown by the different political forces of the
time. Without this spirit of respect, tolerance and agreement on fundamental values the
Constitution would not have happened. But political forces are not anonymous entities;
they’re moved by the effort and hard work of individuals. Among those individuals seven, to
be precise, wrote our constitution. They’re called the “fathers” of the Constitution.
GABRIEL CISNEROS: He belonged to
the Union of the Democratic Center
(UCD) and when the Constitution was
written he was a Member of Parliament
and General Secretary of Assistance and
Social Services in the Interior and Public
Health Ministries, where he kept working
until 1979. In 1989, as a member of the
Popular Party, he became a Member of
Parliament for Zaragoza. He died the 27th
of July 2007 after a serious illness.
JOSÉ PEDRO PÉREZ LLORCA: When
he helped write the Constitution he was
a Member of Parliament for the Union
of the Democratic Center (UCD) for
Madrid. After the 1979 elections, he
became Minister of the Presidency. In
1982 he retired from politics and
decided to go back to his job as a
lawyer.
MIGUEL ROCA: He
worked on the
Constitution as a
Member of Parliament
for Barcelona
representing the
“Catalan Minority”.
After retiring from
politics, he focused on
his own legal practice.
MANUEL FRAGA: Founder member of
Popular Alliance (AP), he was a Member of
Parliament at the time. He was Minister of
Information and Tourism during the
dictatorship ,then Vice-President and Home
Secretary during the Transition and
President of the “Xunta de Galicia” until
2005.
MIGUEL HERRERO: Member of
Parliament for UCD when the
Constitution was written. He has also
had an academic career, working in
the Menéndez Pelayo International
University and as a member of the
Royal Academy of Moral and Political
Science.
JORDI SOLÉ TURA: When
the Constitution was written,
he
was
a
Member
of
Parliament for the Socialist
Unified Party of Catalonia
(PSUC),
a
Catalan
party
affiliated
to
the
Spanish
Comunist Party (PCE). In 1989
he left his party to join the
PSC. He was Minister of
Culture between 1991 and
1993 and Senator for the
Socialist
Group
and
the
“Entesa Catalana de Progrés”
during
the
2000-2004
legislature.
GREGORIO PECES-BARBA: During the writing of the
Constitution he was a Member of Parliament for the
Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE). During his
career he has occupied several important posts, such as
the presidency of the Congress. From 1990 until 2007 he
was vice-chancellor at the Carlos III University and High
Commisioner for Support to Victims of Terrorism from
2004 until 2006. He’s also a professor of Constitutional
Law and member of the Royal Academy of Moral and
Politic Sciences.
DECLARATION OF GREDOS: On the 7th of October 2003, in honour of the 25th anniversary of
the popular referendum on the Spanish Constitution, the authors of the Magna Carta, the socalled Fathers of the Constitution, with the exception of Jordi Solé Tura (who because of
illness could not assist, rather he subscribed to the act from his home)-, met in the National
Parador of Gredos, the same place where, in 1978, the guidelines of the Spanish Constitution
were agreed upon. They signed and read, as a demonstration of their "pride and joy” at the
confidence that the citizens and their respective political parties placed in them, a text in
which they asked for the values, principles and ground rules established in 1978 to be
maintained, insisting that possible changes to the constitutional text should be done with the
same spirit of consensus that existed back then.
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Activities:
1. Extend the information about the fathers of the Constitution. What did each one of them
contribute to the Constitution? Which points were most important for them?
2. Why is it important and significant that they’re called “Fathers”?
3. What is the “spirit of agreement”? Why is it a value that should not be forgotten?
3. The Higher Values of the Constitution
The Constitution, as we know, is not just a compilation of laws. They’re laws based
on, inspired and guided by values, the so-called “higher values”. But what is a higher value?
It's best to find out first what a “value” is.
A value is whatever makes something preferred, desired. It is something that guides
our behaviour. A value is something that, if it disappeared from the world, we would think
that something important and irreplaceable, for example, beauty, harmony, truth, etc has
disappeared. In terms of social life and citizenship, values are whatever guides and provides
a foundation for social and civic life. The "higher values" are the basic, fundamental ones
from which other less important ones will be derived and on which the laws of the
Constitution are based. These laws cannot go against these values, rather they have to
develop and guarantee them.
What are the fundamental values of the Spanish Constitution? They’re clearly stated
in article 1.1 of the “Título preliminar”:
Freedom
Justice
HIGHER VALUES
Equality
Political pluralism
“España se constituye en un Estado social y democrático de Derecho, que propugna como
valores superiores de su ordenamiento jurídico la libertad, la justicia, la igualdad y el
pluralismo político”
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Activities:
1. These four fundamental values have a clear and exact reference in the Declaration of
Human Rights. Remember this subject, referred to previously, and look for the exact Human
Rights to which they are related. The articles of the Constitution develop these values. Look
in the Constitution for an article that discusses each of these values.
2. These values guarantee and provide a basis for coexistence among citizens both at a
national level and also in smaller areas. Coexistence in school, high school, class, etc also
has to be based on these values, especially in the first three. Write an example of these
values applied at school and pay attention to the necessary harmony that has to exist
between them:
Freedom in class means...
Justice in class means...
Equality in class means…
… Harmony among them is necessary
because…
4. Reading the Constitution
It is very important to read and be familiar with the Constitution, because it sets ground
rules. It is really hard to play let’s say football without knowing the rules, even the difficult
ones, like the offside rule. Your teacher may have a copy of the Constitution. It’s also really
easy to find it on the Internet (for example on the “Presidencia del Gobierno” website).
Below you will find several articles that you can start reading.
PREÁMBULO:
La Nación española, deseando establecer
la justicia, la libertad y la seguridad y
promover el bien de cuantos la integran,
en uso de su soberanía, proclama su
voluntad de:
- Garantizar la convivencia democrática
dentro de la Constitución y de las leyes
conforme a un orden económico y social
justo.
- Consolidar un Estado de Derecho que
asegure el imperio de la ley como
expresión de la voluntad popular.
- Proteger a todos los españoles y pueblos
de España en el ejercicio de los derechos
humanos, sus culturas y tradiciones,
lenguas e instituciones.
-Promover el progreso de la cultura y de
la economía para asegurar a todos una
digna calidad de vida.
- Establecer una sociedad democrática
avanzada, y
- Colaborar en el fortalecimiento de unas
relaciones
pacíficas
y
de
eficaz
cooperación entre todos los pueblos de la
Tierra.
En consecuencia, las Cortes aprueban y
el pueblo español ratifica la Siguiente
CONSTITUCIÓN
(…)
Artículo 2
La Constitución se fundamenta en la
indisoluble unidad de la Nación española,
patria común e indivisible de todos los
españoles, y reconoce y garantiza el
derecho
a
la
autonomía
de
las
nacionalidades y regiones que la integran
y la solidaridad entre todas ellas.
Artículo 3
1. El castellano es la lengua española
oficial del Estado. Todos los españoles
tienen el deber de conocerla y el derecho
a usarla.
2. Las demás lenguas españolas serán
también oficiales en las respectivas
Comunidades Autónomas de acuerdo con
sus Estatutos.
3. La riqueza de las distintas modalidades
lingüísticas de España es un patrimonio
cultural que será objeto de especial
respeto y protección.
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Artículo 6
Los
partidos
políticos
expresan
el
pluralismo
político,
concurren
a
la
formación y manifestación de la voluntad
popular y son instrumento fundamental
para la participación política. Su creación y
el ejercicio de su actividad son libres
dentro del respeto a la Constitución y a la
ley.
Su
estructura
interna
y
funcionamiento deberán ser democráticos.
Artículo 16
1. Se garantiza la libertad ideológica,
religiosa y de culto de los individuos y las
comunidades sin más limitación, en sus
manifestaciones, que la necesaria para el
mantenimiento
del
orden
público
protegido por la ley.
2. Nadie podrá ser obligado a declarar
sobre su ideología, religión o creencias.
3. Ninguna confesión tendrá carácter
estatal. Los poderes públicos tendrán en
cuenta las creencias religiosas de la
sociedad española y mantendrán las
consiguientes relaciones de cooperación
con la Iglesia Católica y las demás
confesiones.
Artículo 27
1. Todos tienen el derecho a la educación.
Se reconoce la libertad de enseñanza.
2. La educación tendrá por objeto el pleno
desarrollo de la personalidad humana en
el respeto a los principios democráticos de
convivencia y a los derechos y libertades
fundamentales.
3. Los poderes públicos garantizan el
derecho que asiste a los padres para que
sus hijos reciban la formación religiosa y
moral que esté de acuerdo con sus propias
convicciones.
Artículo 35
1. Todos los españoles tienen el deber de
trabajar y el derecho al trabajo, a la libre
elección de profesión u oficio, a la
promoción a través del trabajo y a una
remuneración suficiente para satisfacer
sus necesidades y las de su familia, sin
que en ningún caso pueda hacerse
discriminación por razón de sexo.
2. La ley regulará un estatuto de los
trabajadores.
Artículo 48
Los poderes públicos promoverán las
condiciones para la participación libre y
eficaz de la juventud en el desarrollo
político, social, económico y cultural.
Activities:
1. What are the fundamental ideas of the preamble? What is a preamble? What is its
function?
2. Read this small selection of articles and…
- Look in the dictionary for the words you don’t understand.
- Summarise each article in your own words.
- On which value is each article based? What is it defending or guaranteeing?
3. Of these articles, which one do you think is most important and why?