The Fight for the City Councils. The Calling of the 1979 local Elections and the Transition to Democracy in Spain

Abstract

This paper analyzes the calling of the first local elections in Spain after Franco’s death, that took place on the 3rd April 1979. For this, the different demands that requestedthem and the position of the actors that took part in this process –the Government, the opposition parties, the city councils’ members and the civil society– are described. The aimsof this studyare to connect the democratization of local administration with the transition to democracy that happened in Spain, to introduce new elements in its discussion and, finally, to improveits historiographic interpretations.

Keywords

• Elecciones municipales
• transición a la democracia
• España
• poder local
• ayuntamientos
• partidos políticos
• movimiento vecinal.