ABSTRACT
The Spaniards went to the polls for the first time under the new constitution on March 1, 1979, the fourth electoral venture since Francisco Franco’s death in 1975. Even more significant than the phenomena was the altered appearance of the Union del Centro Democratico (UCD). The UCD had been created from the top down by those already in power. For these men, the UCD and the state were synonymous. Most of the UCD philosophy had come out of Francoism. The crises caused by the astonishing increase in petroleum prices reverberated throughout the Spanish economy during the ensuing years and pushed countless businesses into bankruptcy, particularly those fragile businesses that had survived until then only because of Francoist paternalism. Business collapse triggered business collapse until unemployment became severe. The governing elites of the UCD, although democratically elected, continued to treat the electorate disdainfully, in a manner reminiscent of that embraced by Francoist elites, seemingly ignoring their voices.
