Spain’s path to democracy.

So here we have the Spanish ECUs, nominal – 5. The year of issue of this coin is 1989, mint: Madrid, Spain. Total circulation – 250.000.

After Franco’s death on November 20, 1975, the accession of Juan Carlos as king opened a new era, which culminated in the peaceful transition to democracy by means of the legal instruments of Francoism. This strategy made it possible to avoid the perils of the “democratic rupture” advocated by the opposition, which had united, uneasily, on a common platform in July 1974.

Arias Navarro, incapable of making the democratic transition supported by the king, was replaced in July 1976 by Adolfo Suárez González, a former Francoist minister. Suárez persuaded the Francoist right in the Cortes to pass the Law for Political Reform in November 1976, which paved the way for democratic elections. Suárez then convinced the opposition of his willingness to negotiate and his democratic intentions

Suárez formed a minority government, and the political consensus held to pass the constitution of 1978. The new constitution, overwhelmingly ratified in a public referendum in December 1978, established Spain as a constitutional monarchy. Church and state were separated, and provisions were made for the creation of 17 autonomous communities throughout Spain, which extended regional autonomy beyond Euskadi (the Basque Country, encompassing the provinces of Viscaya, Guipúzcoa, and Álava) and Catalonia, both of which had already been given limited autonomy.