1st legislature of Spain

The i legislature of Spain (xc from the Cortes of Cádiz) began on March 23, 1979 when, After the general elections were held, the Cortes Generales were established, and ended on August 31, 1982, with their dissolution. The constituent legislature preceded it and was succeeded by the 2nd legislature.

The Democratic Center Union obtained a simple majority in the Congress of Deputies. Adolfo Suárez was sworn in as President of the Government and formed his third Government. He resigned on January 29, 1981. His replacement at the head of the executive was Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, in whose investiture session the failed coup d'état of February 23, 1981 took place. It was the first legislature after the proclamation of the Spanish Constitution.

Start of the legislature

General elections

The Spanish Constitution was promulgated on December 29, 1978 with its publication in the Official State Gazette. In compliance with the eighth transitional provision of the Constitution, the Cortes were dissolved and the 1979 general elections were called through Royal Decree 3073/1978, of December 29.

The results of these first constitutional general elections gave victory to the Democratic Center Union (UCD) with a simple majority of 168 seats, followed by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) with 121 seats. The Communist Party of Spain (PCE) obtained 23 seats and the Democratic Coalition (CD) obtained 10 seats.

Investiture

Between March 24 and 28, 1979, King Juan Carlos I held a round of consultations with the representatives of the parliamentary parties to look for a candidate for president of the Government. At the end of the consultation, the king proposed Adolfo Suárez as candidate. The Congress of Deputies board agreed to hold the investiture session on March 30.

Adolfo Suárez presented his investiture speech in the Congress of Deputies. The candidate pointed out constitutional development as one of the great coordinates of his general policy. The president of the Congress of Deputies Landelino Lavilla prevented the existence of a debate prior to the vote. Adolfo Suárez revalidated the position of President of the Government by an absolute majority thanks to the support of the deputies of UCD, CD, PSA, PAR and UPN.

Candidate	Date	Vote															Total
Adolfo Suárez	30 March 1979 Absolute majority required (176/350)	Yes.	168			8			5						1	1	183/350
		No.		116	23			1		6		1	1	1			149/350
		Abs.					8										8/350
		Aus.		5		1				1	3

Government

Economy

Spain faces a serious economic crisis. In August 1979, the Government presented its economic plan, and in July, it decreed the expansion of nuclear energy.

The number of Social Security contributors was similar to that of 1973. In 1980, a basic employment law was approved.

In 1982, the reconversion of the steel industry began. This would be the first step in the industrial reconversion that took place in the country throughout the 1980s, with the socialist government of Felipe González.

Domestic policy

Terrorism

There is a great increase in terrorism and on October 29, a new anti-terrorist law was approved. In February, Juan Carlos I visited the Basque Country.

On May 26, 1979, the explosion of a bomb in the cafeteria California, 47, in Madrid, caused eight deaths and nearly forty injuries. The attack is mistakenly attributed to the GRAPO.

On November 11, 1979, the UCD deputy Javier Rupérez was kidnapped in Madrid by the political-military ETA organization, which demanded the release of five Basque prisoners and the creation, by the Basque General Council, of a commission researcher on torture in the Basque Country.

On December 20, Congress validated, by a single vote difference, the Decree-Law that extends the Anti-Terrorist Law, considered unconstitutional by some parliamentary groups.

On May 23, 1981, a commando attacked the Central Bank of Barcelona and took more than two hundred people hostage. The assailants demand the release of several defendants in the 23-F summary. On the 24th, the assault on the Central Bank of Barcelona ended with one dead and ten arrested.

On July 9, 1981, the members of GRAPO, Sánchez Casas and Rodríguez García, were sentenced to two hundred and seventy years in prison for their intervention in the attack on "California 47" in Madrid.

On September 5, 1981, the person considered the most responsible for the GRAPO, Enrique Cerdán Calixto, died in a confrontation with the police in Barcelona.

Autonomous process

On December 18, 1979, the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the Basque Country were approved. In Catalonia, with a participation of 59.70%, the Statute is approved by 88.14% of affirmative votes. In the Basque Country, participation reaches 59.77% and the Statute is approved by 90.29% of affirmative votes.

On December 21, 1980, the referendum on the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia was approved by 73.35% of affirmative votes, with a participation of 28.26% of the electorate.

The statute of Andalusia generated great controversy. The referendum is held to ratify the autonomous initiative in Andalusia through article 151 of the Constitution. The positive votes do not reach the necessary majority in Almería and Jaén, while a comfortable majority is achieved in the rest of the Andalusian provinces. The referendum on the autonomous initiative does not prosper as an absolute majority of affirmative votes on the census has not been reached in all the provinces.

On October 20, 1981, the Statute of Autonomy for Andalusia was approved in a referendum with 89.38% affirmative votes. Participation reaches 53.49% of the electoral roll.

In 1980, UCD determined that the statutes of autonomy not yet established should follow the path of article 145. At the end of the same year, the Government granted tax powers to the Basque Government.

The organic laws for financing the autonomous process (LOFCA) were enacted in 1980 and the law for its harmonization (LOAPA) in 1982, many of whose articles would later be declared unconstitutional. The Interterritorial Compensation Fund was also created.

The Statutes of Autonomy of Asturias and Cantabria came into force on February 1, 1982, the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community, Murcia and La Rioja on July 16 and those of Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, the Canary Islands and Navarra. on August 16.

Social measures

On December 20, 1979, Congress approved the Workers' Statute Bill.

On September 23, 1980, Congress approved the Basic Employment Law, with criticism from the General Secretaries of the UGT and CC.OO union centers.

On June 22, 1981, the Congress of Deputies approved the Divorce Law project.

Education, culture and religion

It is worth highlighting the celebration of the 1982 Soccer World Cup in Spain. The Italian team emerged victorious. The Spanish team was eliminated in the second round.

John Paul II's trip to Spain was delayed at the end of the legislature so that it would not interfere in the general elections of October 28, 1982. The Pontiff was received by an acting government, chaired by Calvo-Sotelo, after having produced the absolute majority of the PSOE.

Motion of censure

The Spanish Socialist Workers Party presented a motion of censure against the President of the Government and with Felipe González as an alternative. The vote was held on May 30, 1980. Although Adolfo Suárez managed to overcome the motion of censure by 166 votes against, 152 in favor and 21 abstentions, his image was greatly damaged in the public's eyes, since the debate of the Congress was televised live on TVE 1.

Candidate	Date	Vote															GM	Total
Felipe González	21 May 1980 Absolute majority required (176/350)	Yes.		120	23				5			1	1	1			1	152/350
		No.	166															166/350
		Abs.				9	7	1							1	1	2	21/350
		Aus.					1			7	3

Resignation of Adolfo Suárez

On January 29, 1981, Adolfo Suárez presented his resignation as President of the Government to King Juan Carlos I. Adolfo Suárez's resignation has been the source of meticulous analysis, and the majority highlights the deteriorated situation he was going through. his party, that at that time internal discrepancies were very present when carrying out the tasks of Government, and as the legislature progressed these became more noticeable.

Others point out the loss of support from the King to Adolfo Suárez as a key factor, since Juan Carlos I had been very present in the activities of the President of the Government, and he was supported by the monarch in various situations. Finally, others claim that pressure from the extreme right had a lot to do with Adolfo Suárez's decision to leave the Government.

Investiture of Calvo-Sotelo

After the resignation of Adolfo Suárez, the UCD proposed Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as a candidate for President of the Government. On February 18, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo presented before the Plenary Session of the Congress of Deputies his Government program to obtain the investiture of the Chamber, but he did not obtain the necessary majority, 176 votes, in the first vote. On Friday, February 20, 1981, the first investiture vote for Calvo-Sotelo was held, which obtained the following result.

Candidate	Date	Vote															GM	Total
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	20 February 1981 Absolute majority required (176/350)	Yes.	165			3										1		169/350
		No.		117	23			1	3	7		1	1	1			4	158/350
		Abs.				6	9		1						1			17/350
		Aus.	3	2					1		3

Coup attempt

On February 23, during the second investiture vote of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, an attempted coup d'état occurred: around two hundred armed members of the Civil Guard under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero took over Congress, retaining the Government and to the deputies. Jaime Milans del Bosch, captain general of the Third Military Region, took the city of Valencia and decreed a curfew. The Secretaries of State and the Undersecretaries assumed the governance of the country.

During the early hours of February 24, the King addressed a message to the Spanish people through Spanish Radio and Television, in which he ordered the maintenance of the institutional order voted for by the Spanish people. General Milans del Bosch ordered the withdrawal of troops from the city of Valencia. After 17 hours and the hood deal, the members of Parliament were released.

On February 25, the second investiture session was held again. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo obtained the absolute majority and was sworn in as President of the Government. During the investiture session, an institutional declaration in favor of the Constitution and democracy was read.

Candidate	Date	Vote															GM	Total
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	25 February 1981 Simple majority required	Yes.	165			9	9								1	1	1	186/350
		No.		116	23			1	5	7		1	1	1			3	158/350
		Abs.																0/350
		Aus.	3	3							3

Government

International relations

On April 10, 1980, the Government spoke with the United Kingdom in Lisbon about Gibraltar, while France led the opposition to Spain entering the European Economic Community (current European Union).

In April 1981, during a trip to Germany, Calvo-Sotelo expressed his interest in Spain joining NATO, which was highly criticized by the PSOE. Spain subscribed, however, to joining NATO on May 30.