Freedom in the World 2001 - Spain

2001 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 1.5
Civil Liberties: 2
Political Rights: 1

Overview

Spain suffered one of its worst years ever of separatist violence in 2000. After the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) separatist guerrilla movement ended an 18-month ceasefire in December 1999, the group stepped up its attacks in both frequency and lethality. Establishing a tough line against terrorism, center-right Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar won reelection, capturing an absolute parliamentary majority. Aznar refused any resumption of negotiations with the leading Basque political group, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), until the PNV separated completely from the ETA. Despite the continuing violence, the government appeared to hold the allegiance of the street, with widespread peaceful civilian protests taking place during the year to condemn ETA attacks. Spain faced an immigration crisis in 2000, with tens of thousands of illegal immigrants arriving by boat from North Africa and violent clashes between Spaniards and foreign workers in the country's south. The sudden influx of immigrants was due in part to a surging economy and a lower-than-usual unemployment rate.

Spain's Basques were the first group known to have occupied the Iberian Peninsula. The country's current language and laws are based on those of the Romans, who arrived in the second century b.c. In the year 711, the Moors invaded from North Africa, ruling for 700 years.

The unification of present-day Spain dates to 1512. After a period of colonial influence and wealth, the country declined as a European power and was occupied by France in the early 1800s. Subsequent wars and revolts led to Spain's loss of its colonies in the Americas by that century's end. Francisco Franco began a long period of nationalist rule after the victory of his forces in the 1936-1939 civil war. In spite of the country's official neutrality, Franco followed Axis policies during World War II. Even with its closed economy, the country was transformed into a modern industrial nation in the postwar years. After a transitional period upon Franco's death in 1975, the country emerged as a parliamentary democracy. It joined the European Union (EU) in 1986.

In national elections held in March 2000, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, leader of the centrist Popular Party (PP), won a resounding victory. The PP secured a parliamentary majority it had previously lacked, winning 183 out of 350 seats. The opposition Socialist Party posted its worst showing in 21 years, garnering just 34 percent of the vote and 125 seats. Surpassing all expectations at the polls, Aznar secured the firm victory with support from traditional Socialist voters. The creation of two million jobs during his first term, and other popular economic policies such as a privatization program, helped propel him to victory. By July, the opposition Socialists elected a new leader, appointing Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who, at 39 and espousing a "New Way" platform, is widely seen as a "Spanish Tony Blair" and the one best able to restructure the party after its devastating loss at the polls.

Terrorism dominated the political agenda in 2000. Basque separatists claimed responsibility for 23 murders during the year. The violence resumed with the ending of an 18-month-old ceasefire in December 1999 by the (ETA), Europe's largest terrorist group. The Spanish government began negotiations with the ETA in 1998, with the aim of ending a conflict that has claimed approximately 800 lives since 1970. The two sides were emboldened to negotiate after witnessing the positive results of the signing of the Northern Ireland peace accords. But by November 1999, the ETA announced an end to the ceasefire, angered by what it perceived as slow progress in the talks.

Despite poll results showing only 30 percent of Basques aspiring to independence, the ETA staged some of its boldest attacks in recent memory. Politicians, judges, police officials, journalists, and moderate Basques were the targets of car bombings and execution-style murders. After the July slaying of Socialist politician Juan Maria Jauregui in Basque country, one of a dozen attacks that month, Prime Minister Aznar continued to insist on no talks with Basque separatists until the ETA declared a ceasefire. This followed widespread mass civil demonstrations denouncing the ETA and supporting the government. The political standoff appeared to widen in August, when the PNV, the leading Basque political party, refused to isolate the ETA by heeding Spanish government demands that it back out of the pact it had forged with the ETA's political wing, Euskal Herritarrok. The pact, signed in 1998, was designed to bring the ETA into the political mainstream. In September, the government carried out roundups of suspected ETA activists, including those involved with fund-raising and recruitment.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Spanish citizens can change their government democratically. Spain has been governed democratically since 1977, after nearly 40 years of dictatorship under Franco and a brief transitional government under Adolfo Suarez. The country is divided into 17 autonomous regions with limited powers, including control over such areas as health, tourism, local police agencies, and instruction in regional languages. The bicameral federal legislature includes a territorially elected Senate and a Congress of Deputies elected on the basis of proportional representation and universal suffrage. Although a law stipulates that women must occupy 25 percent of senior party posts and a feminist party has been officially registered since 1981, female participation in government remains minimal.

A Supreme Tribunal heads the judiciary, which includes territorial, provincial, regional, and municipal courts. The post-Franco constitution and 1996 parliamentary legislation established the right to trial by jury.

Freedom of speech and a free press are guaranteed. The press has been particularly influential in setting the political agenda in recent years, with national daily newspapers such as El Mundo, ABC, and El Pais covering corruption and other issues. A new conservative daily, La Razon, was launched in 1998. In addition to the state-controlled television station, which has been accused of pro-government bias, there are three independent commercial television stations. Members of the press were among ETA targets for assassination in 2000. A Spanish journalist for El Mundo was murdered outside his home in Basque country. Several letter bombs were also sent to journalists.

In April, five former Spanish security force members were each sentenced to more than 65 years in prison for their roles in the torture and murder of two suspected Basque separatists. They were alleged to have played a role in Spain's "Dirty War" of the 1980s, when government-funded death squads carried out numerous kidnappings and murders of suspected Basque separatists. The death squads are held responsible for 28 deaths between 1983 and 1987.

Spain lacks antidiscrimination laws, and ethnic minorities, particularly immigrants, continue to report bias and mistreatment. In particular, North African immigrants report physical abuse and discrimination by authorities and were the object of numerous attacks by Spanish civilians during the year.

Spain faced a huge influx of illegal immigrants in 2000, and a new problem on its southern Mediterranean shores. Scores of illegal immigrants, mostly North Africans, arrived by boat throughout the year, many not surviving the short, yet often treacherous, journey. Some estimates show 3,000 people drowned over the last five years while trying to reach Spain. By October, 10,000 people had tried to enter Spain illegally, double the 1999 figure for the same period. The Spanish interior ministry estimated during the year that 50,000 legal and illegal workers arrive each year, mostly from North Africa. There are approximately 150,000 undocumented people in the country. The increase in illegal immigration led to severe outbreaks of racial and anti-immigrant violence in 2000. While many immigrants do jobs most Spaniards turn down, animosity against immigrants remained high. In February Spaniards destroyed the homes of 500 North Africans working as farmers in the southern town of El Ejido.

The violence came on the heels of a late 1999 decision allowing for 70,000 illegal immigrants to establish residency and bring their dependents to the country. The law extends the same rights given to Spanish citizens in the areas of health, education, and legal services. However, in order to qualify, immigrants must prove that they have lived continuously in Spain since at least June 1, 1999.

The rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are constitutionally guaranteed. The country has one of the lowest levels of trade union membership in the EU, and unions have failed to prevent passage of new labor laws facilitating dismissals and encouraging short-term contracting.

In 1978, the constitution disestablished Roman Catholicism as the state religion, but directed Spanish authorities to "keep in mind the religious beliefs of Spanish society." Freedom of worship and the separation of church and state are respected in practice. Spain is home to many cultural and linguistic groups, some – such as the Basques – with strong regional identities.