Women in the Spanish democratic transition period (1975–1982) were able to legally organise as feminist groups. The adultery law was repealed in 1978. Abortion was not legalized during the transition, but was in some circumstances shortly afterwards in 1985.
1970s in transition During Spanish elections in the transition period, women favored centrist political parties and disavowed more the extremist elements like ETA, Herri Batasuna (HB), Catalan nationalists ERC, and Galician radicals.
In the transition period, HOAC, JEC, Comisiones Obreras and UGT were largely focused on the creation of a new Spanish democracy. While female only labor associations had existed underground in the Francoist period, these organizations and the specific needs of women they espoused were largely ignored by HOAC, JEC, Comisiones Obreras and UGT.Cruz Artacho, Salvador (editor) (2009), La mujer trabajadora en la Andalucía contemporánea (1931-2007). Jaén, UGT Andalucía.
Women's rights
Abortion Because abortion was illegal in Spain, during the 1970s, Spanish women who could afford it went to London to get abortions. Between 1974 and 1988, 195,993 Spanish women traveled to England and Wales to get an abortion. Women also went to the Netherlands in this period to have abortions. France was not an option, as at the time it required women who had abortions to be French residents and have resided in the country for at least three months. Women then needed to wait a week to reflect before they could get an abortion. An unknown number of women went to North Africa and Portugal for abortions. During the mid-1970s, the Catholic Church preached that no physical barrier should be present during sex, and that even post-coital washes were problematic as they interfered with the primary goal of sex being conception. The Catholic Church taught the only acceptable reproductive control methods were abstinence and the rhythm method. The Church tried to interfere in any efforts to change this. In the 1970s and 1980s, feminists were the only major group demanding the government address women's needs to have access to abortion services. They played a critical role in changing public perception around abortion. +Total abortions among Spanish women that took place in Spain, England and Wales, and the Netherlands1974-1995SpainEngland and WalesThe NetherlandsTotalrefYearsNumber of abortionsRate per 1000 reproductive
aged womenNumberRateNumberRateNumberRate1975 - -43930.59 - -43930.591976 - -63970.85 - -63970.851977 - -10,1871.35 - -10,1871351978 - -14,0151.85 - -14,0151.851979 - -17,0612.23 - -17,0612.231980 - -183422382,0000.26203422.641981 - -20,4542.654,0000.5224,4543.171982 - -21,4152.7543000.5525,7153.311983 - -22,0022.85,8000.7427,8023.551984 - -20,0602.547,3000.93273603.471985 - -17,6882.226,3440.824,0323.021986 - -11,9351.444,5810.5516,5161.99198716,7661.995,8780.72,5240.325,1682.99198826,0693.073,188371,4060.1730,6633.61198930,5523.561,3320.155720.0732,4563.77199037,2314.38860.13130.0438,4304.43
Adultery In the immediate post-Franco era, feminists in Spain were united in their goal to eliminate the law that made adultery a criminal offense. Their efforts were joined by many anonymous women and some men. They found support in their goals from progressive political parties.
Childcare Childcare was an aspect of women's rights taken up during the democratic transition period. Starting in 1975, state policy switched to offering more opportunities for children to be enrolled in free state-run educational preschool programs. These classes were for children aged three to five, the three years before the state mandated age to start attending school of six years old. The childcare programs that the government focused on had two distinct features. One was that programs for 4 and 5-year-olds be educational. Many of these programs were run through the Ministry of Education and Culture. There were few comparable programs for children three and under. Second was that private childcare facilities had to be approved and regulated by the government. This, unlike other western countries, included attempts to regulate private daycare run by people from their homes. None of these programs were focused on the needs of working parents. This was because of a widespread belief that mothers made the best caregivers of their children.Aguinaga Roustán, Josune and Domingo Comas Arnau, (1991). Infancia y adolescencia: la mirada de los adultos. Madrid: Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales.de Pablo Masa, Antonio (1976). "La familia española en cambio." In Estudios sociológicos sobre la situación social de España. Ed. por Fundación Foessa, p. 345-405. Madrid: Euramérica.Iglesias de Ussel, Julio (1984). "La relación infancia y familia en España". Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, n. 27 (July–September): pp. 7-39.
Despite increased feminist interests in childcare as a component of women's rights in the democratic period, feminists were not consistent in their demands and were unable to mobilize around the issue. Feminist groups, feminists inside state institutions and women's sections of Spanish unions differed from their European peers in that they infrequently drove needs for a wide range of childcare services to be offered by the state and have not acted as primary supporters of the needs of mothers. When they were working as actors in this area, it was generally on behalf of children and focused on the education needs of children under the age of six. Major complaints have involved the lack of government run educational opportunities for children in this age group.
Spanish feminists may have been hesitant to address the issue of motherhood and the needs of mothers for a few reasons. The first is the period of the dictatorship did not allow for the creation of detailed feminist thinking in a Spanish specific context. This development of a feminist ideology would only take place during the transition, as feminist developed specific goals that they would like to see enacted in a new democratic Spain. Second, much of the feminist thinking at the time was inspired by reading the philosophies of feminists from other countries. International feminists in the mid-1970s were largely unconcerned with the concept of motherhood or the care of minor children. Consequently, this did not peculate through internationally influenced Spanish feminist thought.Franzway, Suzanne; Court, Dianne; Connell, R.W. (1989). Staking a Claim: Feminism, Bureaucracy and the State. Cambridge: Polity Press.Threfall, Monica (1985). "The Women’s Movement in Spain". New Left Review. n. 151: 44-73 Lastly, Spain was in a dictatorship, where definitions of male and female sexuality were rigidly imposed by the state. Goals in responding specifically to the end of the dictatorship were often around achieving political equality, and less so about specific economic issues of women. At the same time, not discussing motherhood was viewed by some as rejecting the dictatorship's definition of womanhood that exclusively defined women in that way.Nash, Mary (1991). "Pronatalism and Mothehood in Franco’s Spain". In Maternity and the Rise of the European Welfare States, 1880s-1950s. Ed. Gisela Bock and Pat Thane, p. 160-177. London: Routledge.
Some parties on the right like Alianza Popular (now Partido Popular) were open to talking about educational opportunities for young children but were reticent to discuss childcare as a result of their own beliefs in traditional Spanish motherhood, where women were not allowed to participate in the labor market. Centrist parties were also hesitant to discuss the issue, lest they lose their broad base of support. Union of the Democratic Center (UCD) made no reference to childcare in their 1977 electoral campaign materials.UCD (Unión de Centro Democrático) (1977, 1979). Elecciones generales, programas electorales. PSOE supported educational programs for children under 6 in their campaign materials, but these were largely part of their program to try to reduce class inequality through education; this was not out of concern for childcare needs of working mothers.
Contraception At the time of Franco's death in November 1975, almost all the laws related to female sexuality were still intact, including prohibitions on the use of contraceptives. During the mid-1970s, the Catholic Church preached that no physical barrier should be present during sex, and that even post-coital washes were problematic as they interfered with the primary goal of sex being conception. The Catholic Church taught the only acceptable reproductive control methods were abstinence and the rhythm method.
Divorce Divorce in the late Franco period and early transition period was available via ecclesiastical tribunals. These courts could nullify marriage for a fee. Consequently, they were mostly only available to the rich, with the most famous types of this nullification involving Isabel Preysler and Carmencita Martínez Bordiú. The Civil Courts would only be involved in separation procedures at the provisional level. The Catholic Church was actively opposed to civil divorce in the mid and late 1970s.
By year
1975
To avoid bloodshed following the death of Franco on 20 November 1975, left leaning parties like PSOE and PCE agreed to the "pact of silence" which largely involved not discussing or seeking to prosecute atrocities committed by the Franco regime during its time in power, or by either side during the Spanish Civil War.Partido Feminista de España was founded in 1975 by Lidia Falcón, constituted in 1979 in Barcelona and registered in 1981.
Palmira Pla Pechovierto returned from Venezuelan exile in the late 1970s. The teacher immediately became involved with PSOE in Castellón, and went on to represent the area in the 1977 Constitutional Legislature of Spain.
Franco's death in 1975 allowed women to emerge publicly, no longer needing to remain clandestine. It led to the mass organization of feminist organizations.
A May 1975 law meant public schools could now legally teach the Basque language. This instruction had to be optional and take place at the end of regular school hours. The principal had full discretion as to whether or not such classes would be offered. This law was not backed by government funding to pay teachers, nor train them. October 1975 saw another important law impacting the Basque language come into effect. This law acknowledge regional languages as important in Spain and that there was a need to preserve them. At the same time, it re-stated that despite this, these regional languages could not be used in official government business, courts or legislative assemblies.
1976 Feminists largely rejected the 15 December 1976 Political Reform Referendum. In general, they did not believe the Francoists were capable of enacting reforms that would benefit women.
Inmaculada Benito and María Ángeles Muñoz were two of the last women in Spain to be tried for adultery, only escaping prison when the adultery law was repealed in 1978. Their cases were brought in mid-1976. At the time, Benito was a 21-year-old medical student from Zaragoza while Muñoz was a 30-year-old domestic worker living in Barcelona. Both had dependent children and both had separated from their husbands. In December 1976, two women accused of adultery in Lugo and Pontevedra. The woman from Lugo was acquitted but the woman in Pontevedra was ordered to serve a six-month prison penalty and pay a fine of 100 pesetas. Their cases started after the cases of Benito and Muñoz.
As a European Christian Democratic party, UCD opposed the legalization of divorce and abortion, believing in what they saw as "the preservation of the family." At the same time, PSOE and UCD supported its legalization. Most of the independents in 1976-1977 were right wing, with the primary exception of Suárez who supported the legalization of divorce.