This provisional exit to the internal crisis of the forces of the regime did not change the fact of the fact that the Government was being faced to a increasingly difficult situation. The victory of the immobility did not increase the capacity of the ministers to confront the problems. This remained clear by the insufficiencies of the new union law approved 16 of February of 1971.
The law was accepting limited professional associations, but did not anticipate nothing that viniese to give to the worker participation or representation. With the notable exceptions of the archbishop Squared Stone-cutter and of the War bishop Fields, the law was condemned by the great majority of the religious hierarchy. The immateriality of the law was seen emphasized by the fact of the fact that the arbitrational powers of the policeman are used not only against ETA, but against the members of Worker Commissions and of the general Workers Union (UGT).
The bulk of the repression, however, it continued directed against the Basque activists, those which, weigh to the every time greater number of detentions, boosted their/its/your/his thefts campaign, robberies and attempts with pumps. With the time, and as response to the repression against the aspirations of class and regionalistas, had attempted to unify both struggles. Semieclipsados the aperturistas, it does not seem that the hard believed in the account of the fact that the utilization of the violence was serving solely to make to grow to the forces of the opposition.
In no place was this more evident as in Catalonia. Throughout 1971 were carried out preparatory meetings among representative of the principal Catalan opposition forces, socialistic, communist, Worker Commissions, monarchic and liberal catholics.
7 of November, some 300 delegates were gathered covertly in Barcelona in what was the first Assemblea of Catalunya, inspirational in part by the experiences of the previous year in Montserrat. What is important of this Assemblea and of their/its/your/his program for the amnesty and political freedom were that is procured something unprecedented: the unit of a wide spectrum of union and political groups. Furthermore, among the signatories was included some members of the Catalan banking and industrial middle class. The Assemblea demonstrated that, as compared to the fossilized political answers of the inmovilistas, the influential sectors of the Spanish economic and industrial oligarchy were seeking already alternative understanding process for their/its/your/his own survival.
Response of the Government put of manifesto their/its/your/his decomposition. Without more, Teamster had that are taken measured harder, and a number of offenses, until later under civil jurisdiction, remained submitted to the martial law. The law of Public Order was reformed and was increased the quantity of the fines of the public Order Court (TOP). Not to pay the fines was transporting now three months of jail. The most liberal newspaper of the country, Madrid, it was closed and their/its/your/his directing, the opusdeísta liberal Bald Rafael Serer, there was of exiliarse. The hardening of the censorship caused problems to the left-wing publications of all type.
The impact of all these measures would be compensated, before the world, by a partial amnesty, 1 of October of 1971, with occasion of the trigesimoquinto anniversary of the Franc access to the power. But what is reduced of the amnesty remained clear before the fact of the fact that of 13.256 admitted prisoners officially, only 3.086 were benefitted of she, and of these, the majority was purging penalties of short duration. The prisoners with greater penalties, among those which was found most of the politicians, were not benefitted of the amnesty. On the other hand, to be extended the amnesty to the fines, this gave as a result the absolution of the ex ministers and officials fined in their/its/your/his day by the matter Matesa.
In general terms, though was existing an intensive discussion on the political future of the country, the trend was seeming to go toward the governmental hardening. But the trend was not seeming sufficient to satisfy búnker. This was proven by the violence appearance of groups neofascistas as of 1971.
Pululando about the Force magazine New and of their/its/your/his directing, Blas Piñar, converted into intellectual dynamo of the ultraderecha, the call guerrillas of Christ King and the National Spanish Party - Socialistic (PENS) carried out cultural terrorism campaigns against the workers, cures in intellectual. With the evident police connivance, these groups assaulted several art and bookstore galleries of left. The operations were extended of Madrid to Barcelona and to Valencia. The panfletos abandoned after the raids were proclaiming the determination of defending the values of the victory of the national in the civil war against the communism and against the seudoliberales in the power. 6 of February of 1972 the floor of a sympathize you neofascista jumped by the air in Barcelona, destroying the building and killing to eight persons. The people believed that what had exploited was a weapons deposit and not some pipelines of the gas, that was the version of the authorities.
The targets of the neonazis were revealing which was their/its/your/his function in the continued crisis of the regime. Also, were helping to explain why the forces of the order were closing the eyes continually. The ultra commands carrying out what in a state that was intending to enter in the European Common Market did not be able to do by itself without be put on delicate situations. In the universities the leftists were submitted to sporadic terror waves; in the neighborhood of the working class the raids was effected against the union leaders and, what was yet more meaningful, the guerrillas of Christ King entering the church of the progressive cures and were beating to the clergy as well as to the parishioners.
Had not doubting of the fact that the ultra were intending to cork the splits appeared in the prey of the franquismo. Their/its activities were a clear demonstration of the fact that the society was changing and that the regime were shown unable to offset the change. The ultra were trying to giving marches back to the clock with their/its/your/his terrorism. This was made evident when they assaulted on the symbols of the Catalan middle class and even on Atlantic Bank of Madrid, controlled by the Opus. It were considered that Blas Piñar were found next to White Teamster, whose articles, with the pseudonym of Ginés of Buitrago, were expressing a firm hostility to the democracy. It did not result surprising, since, that the Teamster admiral began to be felt corralled, given the persistence of the workers opposition and Basque.
The dissatisfaction of the working class was not resulting too surprising. The salary increases had been limited to a 6,5 for 100, when the real increase of the cost of the life were approached 12 for 100, in spite the official inflation figures of the 6 for 100. Furthermore, the so cackled growth of the Gross Interior Product simply was concealing the reality of the social conditions of the working class. The access to certain consumption commodities was a scarce compensation before a social services level abismalmente under. The planners had failed in their/its/your/his attempt of solving the problem of the housing created by the massive urbanization. The vacuum was filled by the real-estate speculation. Also, the problems derived from the under sanitary level and from an improper organization from the educational and medical services served to intensify the conscience of the working class. The protest against the lacking social conditions was converted in an important part of the process of politización.
However, the regime, as remained of I manifest through an official regulation of the work Ministry of 1971, was not prepared to making no grant. According to the regulation, the conflicting situations had to be palliateed by means of preventive detentions and of limitations to the press in their/its reports on the occupational conflicts.
Thus since, the strikes were made yet more inflamed than before. In September of 1971, during a strike in Madrid summoned by the workers of the construction, a striker, that was distributing panfletos, died of a shot consider the civil custody. Seventy working thousand of the construction refused to return to the work during five day, by solidarity and in duel sign by the dead. The workers of the metal of Pamplona and Seville were maintained in strike during more than a month. The climactic moment arrived in October, in Asturian coal mines and in the car factories of the SEAT, in Barcelona. Since both companies were of state property, the strikes were a direct challenge to the regime.
The factorage of SEAT was occupied by 7.000 working as protest by the imprisonment of 23 strikers, included nine union links. The civil governor ordered to the policeman that vacated to the occupants, therefore were produced bloody shocks. Numerous employers were beginning to see with displeasure the growing coincidence among occupational and political conflicts and ended up to see in the restrictive mechanisms of the regime a real obstacle for some viable occupational relationships.
The wave of strikes and strikes continued in 1972. 19 of January ETA employed a spectacular tactics to reinforce the petitions of the worker Basque in strike upon kidnapping in Durango to the industrial Lorenzo Zabala. It was freed three days after, when their/its/your/his company, Precicontrol, announced that 183 working, bidden farewell by have gone to the strike, they would be readmitted and that there would be a salary rise for all the workers insole. The effect on the popular image of ETA was considerable.
In those days, before their/its/your/his subsequent degeneracy to 1977, ETA enjoying wide admiration in Spain and abroad, as effective instrument the opposition against a dictatorship increasingly represora. Actions type Robin Hood, as the kidnapping of Zabala, were confirming the affirmations of ETA of the fact that their/its/your/his military front was support and complement of the bulks struggle of the workers. To the customary activities of ETA, as explosive thefts, of money, falsification equipment, etcetera, and assaults against the forces of the order, the Basque activists were adding now attack on the premises of the vertical unions. At the same time, also they were dinamitados places of meeting known for their/its/your/his link to the financial oligarchy, as nautical clubs and casinos.
In January of 1973, industrial other, Félix Huarte, it was kidnaped to support to the workers in strike in one of their/its numerous companies. As propaganda exercise, this action with difficulty could be surpassed, since was almost impossible, in those years, be promenaded by the streets of any Spanish city without seeing the name of Huarte in the cartels of some building in construction. The same as in the case of Zabala, the wished salary increases finished being conceded.
It does not make lack to say that the activities of ETA were not accepted admirativa and acríticamente all over the left. So much CC.OO. as the UGT were preferring to go reinforcing the power of the working class by means of a gradual development of the bulks solidarity, instead of by means of the violence. The communists in particular, to have adopted an alliances policy with the dynamical sectors of the Spanish capitalism, as part of their/its/your/his Agreement by the Freedom, what was an approximation to the old ideas of Claudín, was shown adverse to ETA.
In any case, this was not reducing the sensation of the fact that the regime was in state of siege, neither was deterring it of reacting violently against the strikers and against the Basque activists. Thus since, in 1973 the operations against ETA were converted in direct armed confrontations among nourished contingent of the civil and small custody commands of ETA. ETA was asserting that the regime was not wishing be faced to new judgements of Burgos and was preferring, on the other hand, to finish physically with their/its members. Increasingly, these military actions were guided concretely to intimidate to the population vasca. Not only they was used wide powers to stop and interrogate, with a special hardness indiscriminada, but had been launched also a campaign contraterrorista.
With evident official consent, the action commands of extreme straight soon would begin to accomplish assaults with pumps and metralletas against the houses of the nationalistic Basque more prominent. Such be created the conditions that cause that the problems of the Basque country poisoned the Spanish political life in the years 70.
In 1972 and 1973, the situation in the Basque Country had not reached still the degree of violence to the fact that would arrive from end of 1974 in forward. The worse confrontations were seeming be, by the moment, with worker and students. In March of 1972, a strike in the state company Bazán of naval constructions with headquarters in The Ferrol, it was mastered with so much brutality by the policeman that finished in riot in the downtown area, in the one which two demonstrators were died. To this continued to him/her/you solidarity and demonstration strikes in all the north of Spain.
And worse yet they were the shocks among the policeman and the students: among 6 and 8 of January of 1972, more than fifty persons resulted injuries in shocks in the University from Madrid. After the disturbances of the summer, the medical school of Madrid remained closed by five months and the University of Valladolid was demonstrations stage particularly violent. This carried to hard elements to the Education Ministry, as first step in the purge of teachers and subversive students in the universities. But it did not serve to stop the dissatisfaction demonstrations on the part of the students, and the first quarter of 1973 lived enfrentramientos yet more violent.
