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31-524: The party was founded in April 1978 as Herri Batasuna , a coalition of leftist nationalist political groups initially brought together to advocate for "No" in the referendum to be held that year on the Spanish constitution . Its constituent parties had been called together by senior Basque nationalist Telesforo de Monzón in a 1978 meeting called "The table of Alsasua ". Herri Batasuna's founding convention

62-628: The Cortes Españolas , Torcuato Fernández-Miranda (including changes that would replace the Cortes Españolas with a Cortes Generales ), and supported by Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez and King Juan Carlos . The law provided for the legalization of political parties and a democratic election to Constituent Cortes , a committee of which then drafted the Constitution. Some Spanish media found up to 30% of irregularities in

93-552: The Cortes Generales on 31 October 1978, with the provision that the new law had to be approved by Spanish voters as well. The question asked was "Do you approve of the Constitution Bill?" ( Spanish : ¿Aprueba el Proyecto de Constitución? ). The referendum resulted in 92% of valid votes in support of the bill on a turnout of 67%. The new constitution was intended to replace the many constitutional laws of

124-642: The Democratic and Social Centre (Centro Democrático y Social, CDS) party, which never achieved the success of UCD, though Suárez and its party were important elements in the Liberal International , joining it in 1988, leading to it being renamed Liberal and Progressive International , and Suárez became President of the Liberal International in 1988. He retired from active politics in 1991, for personal reasons. In 1981, Suárez

155-828: The Franco era , the Fundamental Laws of the Realm , and turn Spain into a constitutional monarchy by removing many of the King's powers. The feat of creating a democratic system without breaking the structures of power of the state was made possible by the approval of the Political Reform Act of 1977 , passed by the Francoist Cortes as the last Fundamental Law. It had been drafted by the President of

186-667: The first elections to the Basque Parliament , in which HB stood as a second political force, with 151,636 votes (16.55%), winning 11 seats. Its absence allowed a BNP -only Basque government led by Carlos Garaikoetxea . On 20 November 1984, Brouard was assassinated by two members of the GAL . The killing is perhaps the only one performed by the GAL death squad within Spain itself. Another well-known Herri Batasuna leader, Josu Muguruza ,

217-403: The 1979 elections under the new constitution. Suárez's political power eroded as he struggled to deal with economic recession, mounting violent activity by ETA , calls for further regional autonomy and divisions within his own party. He became increasingly withdrawn from governance, partly due to a chronic dental condition. He survived a motion of no confidence presented by Felipe González and

248-749: The Lord for the eternal rest of this esteemed and feature figure of the recent history of Spain." On 26 March 2014, the Spanish government decided to rename the Madrid-Barajas Airport to Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport in honour of his service to the country. Suárez married María del Amparo Illana Elórtegui in 1961. She died from cancer on 17 May 2001. Their eldest daughter, María del Amparo ("Mariam") Suárez Illana (1962–2004), died of breast cancer on 6 March 2004, following an 11-year illness. Both of her younger sisters also suffered from

279-744: The PSOE and the PCE were both legalised, trade unions were recognised, and the Movimiento was abolished. The legalisation of the PCE in particular provoked fury in the Spanish military; Suárez responded by sacking hardliners and promoting more liberal officers such as Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado . On 15 June, Suárez led the Union of the Democratic Centre ( Unión de Centro Democrático , UCD) to victory in Spain's first free elections in 41 years , and became

310-624: The PSOE in May 1980. In January 1981, trailing in the polls behind the PSOE and faced with a revolt within the UCD, Suárez announced his resignation as prime minister. A month later, as parliament took the vote to confirm Suárez's successor Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo , Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero and around 200 Civil Guards stormed the chamber in an attempted coup and held the lawmakers hostage for some 22 hours. Suárez, along with two other parliamentarians, exhibited defiance by remaining calmly seated during

341-540: The age of 18, Suárez was president of the Ávila chapter of Catholic Action . He studied law at the University of Salamanca , after which he took a job at the municipal government of Ávila in 1955. He subsequently became a member of Opus Dei , and obtained a doctorate at the Central University of Madrid . He also worked briefly as a porter at Madrid's Atocha railway station . In 1958, Suárez became

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372-540: The basis for a new, bicameral parliament , was passed by a huge majority in the Francoist Cortes in November 1976 and overwhelmingly approved by a referendum in December. Suárez managed to placate the conservative military officers, while also reaching out to Felipe González 's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and later, Santiago Carrillo 's Communist Party of Spain (PCE). Between February and April 1977,

403-729: The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the first democratic elections, King Juan Carlos appointed Suárez the 1,193rd Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece . He was also a member of the Club de Madrid, an independent organization (based in Madrid) that is composed of more than 80 former democratic Prime Ministers and Presidents. The group works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership. On 31 May 2005, Suárez's son, Adolfo Suárez Illana , announced on Spanish television that his father

434-471: The census in certain provinces, with many people allegedly being unable to vote while others voted twice. Adolfo Suárez 's government had lowered voting age from 21 to 18 only three weeks before the referendum, which resulted in a made-up electoral register increasing by over 3 million people compared to the 1977 general election amid technical, administrative and logistical issues. Interior Ministry officials acknowledged deviations of up to 5.1 per 100 in

465-508: The elections held from 1998 to 2001, it was part of the coalition Euskal Herritarrok . Herri Batasuna refused to participate in many of the institutions it won seats in, with the exception of local town halls. Spanish constitutional referendum, 1978 A constitutional referendum was held in Spain on Wednesday, 6 December 1978, for approval or rejection of the proposed Spanish Constitution . The new constitution had been approved by

496-501: The electoral census—roughly 1.5 million people according to the National Institute of Statistics —resulting from the absence of an official electoral register and in an overreliance on data from municipal registers. Adolfo Su%C3%A1rez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez ( Spanish pronunciation: [aˈðolfo ˈswaɾeθ] ; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez

527-456: The first democratically elected prime minister of the post-Francoist Spain. Suárez's centrist government instituted further democratic reforms. A new constitution , which recognised Spain as a constitutional monarchy , was approved by a referendum in December 1978. In an effort to address separatist tensions and calls for increased local autonomy, Suárez also negotiated the creation of Spain's autonomous communities . Suárez's coalition won

558-551: The panic. The 23-F coup attempt ("El Tejerazo") failed as it was opposed by Spain's main newspaper El País (who managed to get a special edition in favor of the constitution issued and distributed on the evening of the coup attempt) and denounced by King Juan Carlos I in a televised address. Meanwhile, promised military support for the coup failed to materialise – with few exceptions, most notably Jaime Milans del Bosch who led pro-coup troops in Valencia. In 1982, Suárez founded

589-475: The personal secretary of Fernando Herrero Tejedor, the newly appointed civil governor of Ávila. When Tejedor was made deputy secretary-general of the Movimiento Nacional in 1961, Suárez became his chef de cabinet . He gradually rose through the ranks of the Movimiento . In 1965, Suárez was appointed programme director of the state broadcaster Radio y Televisión Española (RTVE). In 1967, he

620-417: The resignation of Arias. The relatively obscure Suárez was chosen as the new Prime Minister of Spain , surprising many observers. At the age of 43, he was Spain's youngest prime minister in the 20th century. Due to his Francoist ties, Suárez enjoyed the trust of the political right, while the reformists were dismayed by his appointment. Nevertheless, it was noted that due to his age (he turned 7 years old in

651-429: The same illness. She was the mother of two children, Alejandra Romero Suárez (born 1990), herself the current holder of her grandfather's dukedom, and Fernando Romero Suárez (born 1993). Suarez' youngest daughter, María Sonsoles Suárez Illana (born 1967), became a TV news anchor for Antena 3 . From 1992 to 1994 she was married to José María Martínez-Bordiú y Bassó de Roviralta (a nephew of Cristóbal Martínez-Bordiú ,

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682-406: The year the civil war ended), Suárez was not as strongly associated with the bloody Civil War or the most brutal years of Franco's rule as the older politicians. Within a year of his appointment, Suárez had rapidly introduced reform measures and taken decisive steps in Spain's transition to democracy ( La Transición ). The Political Reform Act , which permitted universal suffrage and established

713-475: Was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in the country's transition to democracy after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco . When Spain was still an autocratic regime, he was appointed prime minister by King Juan Carlos in 1976, hoping that his government could bring about democracy. At the time of his appointment, he

744-757: Was also killed by members of the neo-fascist Bases Autónomas in 1989, while he was in a hotel in Madrid . He was a congressman in the Spanish Parliament when he was assassinated. Since its foundation, Herri Batasuna ran for every election in the Basque Country and in Navarre, as well as in Spanish general elections (from 1979 to 1996) and the European elections of 1987, 1989 and 1994. In the 2000 Spanish general election , it supported abstention. In

775-553: Was considered a likely candidate for prime minister until his death in a car accident in June. In December, shortly after Francisco Franco 's death, Suárez was promoted to secretary-general by prime minister Carlos Arias Navarro , and became a member of Arias's cabinet. In the same year, he also became a founding member of the Spanish People's Union ( Unión del Pueblo Español , UDPE). In July 1976, King Juan Carlos requested

806-540: Was elected to the Francoist Cortes . In 1968, Suárez was promoted to civil governor and provincial head of the Movimiento in Segovia . In 1969, he was made director general of RTVE. Under this capacity, he became a close friend to future king Prince Juan Carlos . In March 1975, Herrero Tejedor became secretary-general of the Movimiento while Suárez was appointed deputy secretary-general. Herrero Tejedor

837-699: Was elected to the Cortes numerous times. He retired from politics in 1991 and from public life in 2003, due to Alzheimer's disease . Adolfo Suárez González was born on 25 September 1932 in Cebreros in the Province of Ávila of Spain, the eldest son of Hipólito Suárez Guerra, a lawyer, and Herminia González Prados. Both of his parents supported the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War . At

868-542: Was held in Lekeitio , home of Santiago Brouard , who was then the leader of HASI (Herriko Alderdi Sozialista Iraultzailea or Revolutionary Socialist People's Party). The party won 150,000 votes in the Basque Country (15%) and 22,000 additional votes in Navarre (9%) in its first Spanish general election in March 1979. Thus, they won three seats in the Spanish Parliament, which they did not occupy. The same happened in 1980 in

899-494: Was not a well-known figure, making many political forces skeptical of his government. However, he oversaw the end of the Francoist Cortes , and the legalisation of all political parties (including the Communist Party of Spain , a particularly difficult move). He led the Union of the Democratic Centre and won the 1977 general election . In 1981, he resigned and founded the party Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), which

930-577: Was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos of Spain and given the hereditary title of "Duque de Suárez" ( Duke of Suárez ), together with the title Grande de España (English: Grandee of Spain) following his resignation as Prime Minister and in recognition of his role in the transition to democracy . Suárez was awarded the Príncipe de Asturias a la Concordia in September 1996 for his role in Spain's early democracy. On 8 June 2007, during

961-570: Was suffering from Alzheimer's disease . The announcement followed speculation about Suárez's health in the Spanish media. On 21 March 2014, his son announced that his death from neurological deterioration was imminent. Suárez then died as a result of a respiratory infection on 23 March 2014 in a clinic in Madrid. Suarez was given a state funeral and was buried in the cloister of Ávila Cathedral . Pope Francis shared his condolences, saying: "In fraternal suffrage with you all, I make fervent prayers to

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