Politics of Spain - Political Parties

Political Parties

Spain is a multi-party constitutional parliamentary democracy. According to the constitution, political parties are the expression of political pluralism, contributing to the formation and expression of the will of the people, and are an essential instrument of political participation. Their internal and structure and functioning must be democratic. The Law of Political Parties of 1978 provides them with public funding whose quantity is based on the number of seats held in the Cortes Generales and the number of votes received. Since the mid 1980s two parties dominate the national political landscape in Spain: the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Spanish: Partido Socialista Obrero Español) and the People's Party (Spanish: Partido Popular).

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) is a social-democrat center-left political party. It was founded in 1879 by Pablo Iglesias, at the beginning as a Marxist party for the workers' class, which later evolved towards social-democracy. Outlawed during Franco's dictatorship, it gained recognition during Spanish transition to democracy, period when it officially renounced Marxism, under the leadership of Felipe González. It played a key role during the transition and the Constituent Assembly that wrote the Spanish current constitution. It governed Spain from 1982 to 1996 under the prime ministership of Felipe González, during which time the party adopted a socio-liberal economic policy. It governed again from 2004 to 2011 under the prime ministership of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The People's Party (PP) is a conservative centre-right party that took its current name in 1989, replacing the previous People's Alliance, a more conservative party founded in 1976 by seven former Franco's ministers. It is refoundation it incorporated the Liberal Party and the majority of the Christian democrats. In 2005 it integrated the Democratic and Social Center Party. It governed Spain under the prime ministership of José María Aznar from 1996 to 2004, and is currently the party in Government since December 2011, headed by Mariano Rajoy.

Other parties or coalitions represented in the Cortes Generales after the 20 November 2011 election are:

• Convergence and Union (Catalan: Convergència i Unió, CiU)
• Socialists' Party of Catalonia (Catalan: Partit dels Socialistas de Catalunya, PSC)
• Plural Left (Spanish: Izquierda Plural, IP); a coalition of several left-wing parties, among which the largest party is the United Left (Spanish: Izquierda Unida, IU)
• Amaiur, a coalition of Basque nationalist parties
• Union, Progress and Democracy (Spanish: Unión, Progreso y Democracia, UPyD)
• Basque Nationalist Party (Basque: Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea, Spanish: Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV)
• Republican Left of Catalonia (Catalan: Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC)
• Galician Nationalist Bloc (Galician: Bloque Nacionalista Galego, BNG)
• Coalition of Canarian Coalition (Spanish: Coalición Canaria) and New Canaries (Spanish: Nueva Canarias)
• Commitment Coalition (Catalan: Coalició Compromís), a coalition of Valencian parties,
• Citizen's Forum,
• Yes to the Future (Basque: Geroa Bai).

In addition, the Aragonese Party, United Extremadura, and the Union of Navarrese People participated in the elections forming regional coalitions with the People's Party.