The PSOE was founded in 1879, making it the oldest party currently active in Spain. The PSOE played a key role during theSecond Spanish Republic, being part of thecoalition government from 1931 to 1933 and 1936 to 1939, when the republic was defeated in theSpanish Civil War. The party was then banned under theFrancoist dictatorship and its members and leaders were persecuted or exiled; the ban was only lifted in 1977 in thetransition to democracy. HistoricallyMarxist, it abandoned the ideology in 1979.[5] Like most mainstream Spanish political organizations since the mid–1980s, the PSOE has been considered by experts to have embraced a positive outlook towardsEuropean integration.[6][a]
The PSOE has historically had strong ties with theGeneral Union of Workers (UGT), a major Spanish trade union. For a couple of decades, UGT membership was a requirement for PSOE membership. However, since the 1980s the UGT has frequently criticised the economic policies of the PSOE, even calling forgeneral strikes against the PSOE governments on 14 December 1988,[7] 28 May 1992, 27 January 1994 and 29 September 2010, jointly with theWorkers' Commissions, another major trade union in Spain.
Both the trade unions and theleft have often criticised the economic policies of the PSOE for theireconomically liberal nature. They have denounced policies includingderegulation and the increase inprecarious andtemporary work, cuts in unemployment and retirement benefits, and theprivatisation of large state-owned organisations andpublic services.[8] The PSOE has traditionally attracted a higher share of female voters than its rivals.[9]Same-sex marriage andadoption were legalised in 2005 under theZapatero Government and, more recently, a transgender rights bill was passed to allow more freedom in regards to gender identity.[10][11][12][13]
Pablo Iglesias Posse addressing the workers during a 1905 demonstration in Madrid
The PSOE was founded byPablo Iglesias on 2 May 1879 in theCasa Labra tavern in Tetuán Street near thePuerta del Sol at the centre ofMadrid.[14][15] Iglesias was a typesetter who had previously come in contact with the Spanish section of theInternational Workingmen's Association and withPaul Lafargue.[15] The first program of the new political party was passed in an assembly of 40 people on 20 July of that same year. The bulk of the growth of the PSOE and its affiliated trade union, theUnión General de Trabajadores (UGT) was chiefly restricted to theMadrid-Biscay-Asturias triangle up until the 1910s.[16] The obtaining of a seat at the Congress by Pablo Iglesias at the1910 Spanish general election in which the PSOE candidates presented within the broadRepublican–Socialist Conjunction became a development of great symbolical transcendence and gave the party more publicity at the national level.[17]
After the death of Pablo Iglesias in 1925, Julián Besteiro replaced him as president of both the PSOE and the UGT. During the 1923–1930 dictatorship ofMiguel Primo de Rivera,corporatist PSOE and UGT elements were willing to engage in limited collaboration with the regime, against the political stance defended by other socialists such asIndalecio Prieto andFernando de los Ríos, who instead advocated a closer collaboration withrepublican forces.[23] The last years of the dictatorship saw a divergence emerge among the corporatist which was personified byFrancisco Largo Caballero, who began to endorse the rapport with bourgeois republicans; and Julián Besteiro, who continued to show great distrust towards them.[24] Besteiro's refusal to participate in the Revolutionary Committee led to his resignation as president both of the party and the trade union in February 1931.[25] He was replaced as president of the party byRemigio Cabello.[26]
After theNovember 1933 general election which marked a win for the centre-right forces in a climate of increasing polarization and growing unemployment, along with a desire to make amends for the mistake of not having sided with the republicans in the election against the united right, Largo Caballero adopted arevolutionary rhetoric, calling for violent revolution and a transitionarydictatorship of the proletariat.[27][28] Indalecio Prieto had also participated in the increasingly aggressive rhetoric, having already condemned the heavy-hand repression of the December 1933 largely anarchist uprising by the government, that has been cheered on by theCEDA leaders on parliament.[29] TheSocialist Youth of Spain (JSE) also engaged into a shrilling revolutionary rhetoric while Besteiro firmly opposed the insurrectionary drift of the militancy.[30]
The formation of a new cabinet that included CEDA ministers in October 1934 was perceived among the left as areaction,[31] with the CEDA party being indistinguishable from contemporaryfascism to most workers[32] while CEDA leaderGil-Robles had advocated the establishment of a corporative state already in the 1933 electoral campaign.[33] The UGT called for a nationwide general strike for 5 October which developed into a full-blown insurrection (theRevolution of 1934) in the mining region of Asturias which was vocally supported by socialists such as Largo Caballero and Prieto. After the end of the revolt, whose repression was entrusted to generalsFrancisco Franco andManuel Goded, most PSOE and UGT leaders were jailed.[34]
Francisco Largo Caballero chairing a meeting of the Council of Ministers during wartime
A growing rift between Prieto and Largo Caballero (with disparate views of politics, albeit sharing a general pragmatist approach) formed in 1935 while Besteiro's hold on the party diminished significantly.[35] Followers of Indalecio Prieto would ultimately become "estranged from the party left".[36] The PSOE formed part of the broad left-wingPopular Front electoral coalition that stood for election in the1936 Spanish general election and achieved a victory in seats over the right.
In September 1936, a few months into theSpanish Civil War (which lasted until 1939), a cabinet presided over by Largo Caballero was formed (he also held the functions of Minister of War). In November, Largo Caballero succeeded in bringing someCNT members into his government. The left socialistcaballeristas were revolutionary in rhetoric, although in reality they proposed moderate reformist policies while in government.[36] TheMay Days of 1937 in Barcelona destabilised the government which was replaced by a new cabinet led byJuan Negrín, another socialist.
Rodolfo Llopis led the PSOE in exile for nearly three decades
With the PSOE reduced to clandestinity during theFrancoist dictatorship, its members were persecuted, with many leaders, members and supporters being imprisoned or exiled and even executed. Prime Minister Negrín fled to France in March 1939 after the final collapse of the Republican front and his fall from office.[37] The aging and ill Julián Besteiro, who preferred to stay in Spain over exile, died in a Francoist prison in 1940.Julián Zugazagoitia, government minister in 1937–1938, was captured in exile by theGestapo, handed over to Spain and executed in 1940. The party was legalised again only in 1977 during theSpanish transition to democracy.
Disputes between the followers of Indalecio Prieto (who had exiled to Mexico) and Juan Negrín over the political strategy of theRepublican government in exile soon arose. Negrín, whose 1937–1939 spell at the government in wartime was seen negatively by large elements of bothcaballerista andprietista extraction, had become vilified.[38] The party was re-organized along new lines in 1944 in the 1st Congress in Exile that took place inToulouse and in whichRodolfo Llopis became the party's new secretary-general.[39]
The PSOE congresses in exile during the post-war period were marked by stronganti-communist positions as a reflection of how the exiles remembered the last events of the Civil War (which featured bitter strifes with the communists) and in line with the stance of other parties of theSocialist International during theCold War, neglecting any kind of rapprochement with theCommunist Party of Spain (PCE).[40] The relative void left in Spain by the PSOE, with a Toulouse-based direction lacking in dynamism and innovation, was filled by the PCE and other new clandestine organizations such as theAgrupación Socialista Universitaria (ASU), thePopular Liberation Front (FELIPE) or later theEnrique Tierno Galván'sSocialist Party of the Interior.[41] The Toulouse executive board became increasingly detached from the party in Spain in the 1960s an insurmountable chasm between the former and the party in the interior was already defined by 1972.[42]
The 25th party congress was held inToulouse in August 1972. In 1974,Felipe González was elected Secretary-General at the 26th party congress inSuresnes, replacing Llopis. González was from the reform wing of the party and his victory signaled a defeat for the historic and veteran wing of the party. The direction of the PSOE shifted from the exiles to the young people in Spain who had not fought the war.[7] Llopis led a schism to form theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party (historic). González showed intentions to move the party away from its Marxist and socialist background, turning the PSOE into a social democratic party, similar to those of the rest of western Europe. In 1977, the PSOE became the unofficialopposition leading party with 29.2% of the vote and 118 seats in theCortes Generales (which until then it had been the PCE, leading more aggressively among a larger representation of underground parties since the last free popular vote during the Civil War on Republican territory). Their standing was further boosted in 1978 when thePopular Socialist Party agreed to merge into the PSOE.
At the 27th party congress in May 1979, González resigned because the party would not abandon its Marxist character. In September of that year, the extraordinary 28th congress was called in which González was re-elected when the party agreed to move away from Marxism. Western European social democratic parties supported González's stand and theSocial Democratic Party of Germany granted them money. PSOE party symbol was changed from the anvil with the book to the social democraticfist and rose created in the FrenchSocialist Party, redrawn for the PSOE byJosé María Cruz Novillo. In the1978 Spanish constitutional referendum, the PSOE supported theSpanish constitution which was approved. In the1979 Spanish general election, the PSOE gained 30.5% of the vote and 121 seats, remaining the main opposition party. In the1982 Spanish general election, the PSOE was victorious with 48.1% of the vote (10,127,392 total). González becamePrime Minister of Spain on 2 December, a position he held until May 1996.
Although the party had opposedNATO, most party leaders supported keeping Spain inside the organisation after reaching the government. The González administration organised a referendum on the question in 1986, calling for a favourable vote, and won. The administration was criticised for avoiding the official names ofNorth Atlantic Treaty Organisation andNATO, using the unofficialAtlantic Alliance terms. A symbol of this U-turn isJavier Solana who campaigned against NATO but ended up years later as its Secretary General. The PSOE supported the United States in theGulf War (1991). PSOE won the 1986, 1989 and 1993 general elections. Under the Gonzalez administration, public expenditure on education, health, and pensions rose in total by 4.1 points of the country's GDP between 1982 and 1992.[43]
In the2004 Spanish general election, the PSOE won with almost 43% of the votes following the11M terrorist (11 March) attacks. It was alleged by PP that the PSOE, with the help of the national newspaperEl País, did not observe the "reflection journey" which forbade political parties from trying to sway public opinion (forbidden by Spanish law), calling the opposing political party "assassins" and blaming the terrorist attack on them. The PSOE maintained their lead in the2004 European Parliament election.[44][45]
In 2005, the PSOE called for a yes vote on theEuropean Constitution. The PSOE also favoured the negotiations between the government and the ETA during the 2006 cease-fire which had ade facto end with theMadrid–Barajas Airportterrorist attack. In the2008 Spanish general election, the PSOE won again, with Zapatero remaining prime minister. The PSOE increased their share of seats in theCongress of Deputies from 164 to 169 after the latest election.
After waning popularity throughout their second term, mainly due to their handling of the worsening economic climate in Spain in the aftermath of the2008 financial crisis, the PSOE was defeated in the2011 Spanish general election by the conservative People's Party.[citation needed] Shortly after, anextraordinary congress was held in whichAlfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, former Deputy to Zapatero and Minister of the Interior, was elected Secretary-General defeatingCarme Chacón, the other candidate, who stood for the Zapatero platform. This victory caused huge internal divisions and weakened the party's external image.
In 2013, the PSOE held a political conference which introduced a completely new platform, widely seen as a move to the left in an attempt to regain votes from parties such as theUnited Left, whose popularity rose steadily due to the general discontent with the two-party system and spending cuts. That platform was the basis for the2014 European Parliament election manifesto, promoted as a solid alternative to the conservative plan for Europe. The expectations inside the party which choseElena Valenciano as their election candidate were optimistic, but the PSOE suffered another defeat due to the appearance of new parties such asPodemos which managed to gain the support of left-wing voters, with PSOE winning 14 seats. Shortly thereafter, Rubalcaba resigned as Secretary-General and anExtraordinary Congress was convoked.
In the2015 Spanish municipal elections, the PSOE won 25% of the vote, one of its worst results since the restoration of democracy. Together with the fall of the People's Party which won 27% of votes, it meant the end of the two-party system in Spain in favor of new parties. The PSOE alone lost 943 councilors. The2015 Spanish general election produced ahung parliament broken into four major parties. Due to the large increase of parties such as Podemos (left) andCitizens (centre-right), the PSOE got about 20% of the vote, its worst result since democracy was restored. The parliament was so fragmented that no government could be formed and six months later new elections were held. The2016 Spanish general election resulted in the PSOE losing a further five seats despite gaining 0.6% of the vote (still the party's second-worst popular vote total after 2015 since the restoration of democracy), leaving the party with 85 seats in the parliament, their lowest total since the restoration of democracy and the fewest since the1933 inRepublican Spain left the party with 59 seats in the 473-member parliament.
With the exception of the2015 Andalusian regional election, elections held during the early leadership of Sánchez were losses for the PSOE. In addition, the policy of pacts conducted by Sánchez after the 2016 general election, based on Sánchez's outright refusal to facilitate a People's Party government, caused a faction within the party critical of Sánchez to gain momentum, led by President ofAndalusiaSusana Díaz. On 28 September 2016, the Secretary of Federal Policy Antonio Pradas went to the party's headquarters and presented theen bloc resignation of 17 members of the Federal Executive and the demands of those who resigned for the party to be run by an interim manager and to pressure Sánchez to resign as secretary-general. The Executive later lost two more members in theen bloc resignation, bringing the total number of resignations to 19. Resigning executives included the president of the partyMicaela Navarro, the former MinisterCarme Chacón, the President ofValenciaXimo Puig and the President ofCastilla–La ManchaEmiliano García-Page. This launched the2016 PSOE crisis. On the afternoon of 1 October 2016, after holding a tense Federal Committee meeting, Sánchez resigned as party General-Secretary, forcing anextraordinary party congress to choose a new General-Secretary. That night, it was reported that an interim manager would be chosen, later confirmed to be the President ofAsturiasJavier Fernández Fernández. Sánchez announced his intention to run for General-Secretary of the party as did Susana Díaz (one of the leaders of the anti-Sánchez faction of the party) andPatxi López, former President of theBasque Autonomous Community. At the 39th federal congress in June 2017, Díaz received 48.3% of endorsements, outpacing both Sánchez (43.0% of endorsements) and López (8.7% of endorsements), but Sánchez won an absolute majority of the party's popular vote at 50.3% (Díaz received 39.9% and López 9.8%). Both Díaz and López withdrew before the delegate vote, returning Sánchez as the General-Secretary and ending the crisis. Sánchez won every region of Spain except for the home regions of López and Díaz.
In mid-2018, theNational Court found that the conservative People's Party profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of theGürtel case, confirming the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure that ran in parallel with the party's official one since 1989 and that sentenced that the PP helped to establish "a genuine and effective system of institutional corruption through the manipulation of central, autonomous and local public procurement". The PSOE Parliamentary Group in the Congress of Deputies filed amotion of no confidence against the government of Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy, presenting Sánchez as alternative candidate. The PSOE's motion passed with the support ofUnidos Podemos (UP),Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC),Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT),Basque Nationalist Party (PNV),Coalició Compromís,EH Bildu andNew Canaries (NCa), bringing down the Rajoy government. The PP voted against the proposal, joined byCitizens (C's), theNavarrese People's Union (UPN) and theAsturias Forum (FAC). TheCanarian Coalition (CC) abstained. Following the successful motion of no confidence, Sánchez became prime minister on 2 June 2018 in a minority government. In December 2018, the PSOE'sbranch in Andalusia was defeated in the2018 Andalusian regional election for the first time since the restoration of democracy, with a centre-right coalition of PP, C's and the resurgentright-wing nationalistsVox taking power in the region.
For most of his first term as prime minister, Sánchez relied on support from the UP and the NC to get his agenda passed, occasionally being forced into negotiating with the Catalan separatist parties the ERC and the PDeCAT and the PNV on individual issues. In February 2019, the ERC, the PDeCAT andEn Marea withdrew their support of Sánchez's government by voting against and helping defeat the 2019General State Budget and Sánchez called an early election for 28 April 2019. TheApril 2019 Spanish general election resulted in victory for the PSOE, with the party winning 123 seats on 28.7% of the vote in the Cortes and an absolute majority of 139 in the Senate, gains of 38 and 79 seats respectively. The PSOE also finished eight percentage points ahead of the PP which finished second in both seats and in the popular vote. At election night, party supporters demanded Sánchez to reject any coalition with Cs.[46] On the same day as the April 2019 general election, the2019 Valencian regional election resulted in theValencian branch of the PSOE being re-elected in coalition with theValencianist partyCompromís and UP.
On 26 May 2019, the PSOE became the largest Spanish party in theEuropean Parliament following the2019 European Parliament election. The PSOE gained six seats to bring their total to 20 and won all but eight provinces in the country. 26 May also sawregional elections for every region in the country except Valencia, Catalonia, Andalusia, the Basque Country and Galicia. In every region, the PSOE gained seats and votes from the 2015 regional elections. The PSOE finished first in terms of votes and seats in every region except forCantabria, where theRegionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) finished first and the PSOE third behind the PP; andNavarra, where the conservative regionalistNA+ finished first and theSocialist Party of Navarre finished second. PSOE governments were re-elected inCastilla-La Mancha andExtremadura, with the party receiving an absolute majority of seats in both regions. The party took over the Presidency of theCanary Islands with the support ofNew Canaries andPodemos, ending 26 years ofCanarian Coalition government. On the same date, the PSOE became the largest party in themunicipalities following thelocal elections.
Following months of political deadlock, Sánchez called a second general election in seven months. In theNovember 2019 Spanish general election, the PSOE lost only three members of parliament and 0.7% of the popular vote in the election, but the PP and VOX gained 23 and 28 seats respectively, further worsening the deadlock. As of 23 December, there was still no government in place, although members of PSOE, PSC and UP have voted overwhelmingly to join in a coalition government, agreed to by Sánchez and UP Secretary-GeneralPablo Iglesias Turrión. On 5 January 2020, the PSOE–UP government failed its first investiture vote, with 166 votes in favor and 165 opposed with 18 abstentions and one UP parliamentarian absent, therefore the government fell short of an absolute majority. On 7 January, the investiture motion, this time requiring only asimple majority, passed with 167 votes in favour and 165 against. PSOE, UP,En Comú Podem,Grupo Común da Esquerda, PNV,Más País, Compromís, NCa, theGalician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) andTeruel Existe (TE) voted in favor of the government, with PP, Vox, Cs,Together for Catalonia (JxCat), thePopular Unity Candidacy (CUP), NA+, CC, PRC and FAC voting against while ERC and EH Bildu both abstained.
In 2021, PSOE started apodcast calledDonde hay partido.[47]
The PSOE was founded with the purpose of representing and defending the interests of theproletariat formed during theIndustrial Revolution in the 19th century.[citation needed] In its beginnings, the PSOE's main objective was the defense of worker's rights and the achievement of the ideals ofsocialism, emerging from contemporary philosophy andMarxist politics, by securingpolitical power for theworking class and establishing adictatorship of the proletariat in order to achieve social ownership of themeans of production. The ideology of the PSOE has evolved throughout the 20th century according to relevant historical events and the evolution of Spanish society.
In 1979, the party abandoned its definitive Marxist thesis at the hands of its Secretary-GeneralFelipe González, not before overcoming great tensions and two party congresses, the first of which preferred to maintain Marxism. Before this situation, notable internal leaders such asPablo Castellano [es] andLuis Gómez Llorente [es] founded the internal faction of Left Socialists which included the militants who would not renounce Marxism. This allowed for the consolidation of the leftist forces in the PSOE. From this moment, the diverse events both outside and within the party led to projects that resembled those of other Europeansocial democratic parties and acceptance of the defence of the market economy. Thedemocratic socialist faction has been especially critical of the party'sThird Way move to the centre starting in the 1980s for itseconomic liberal nature, denouncing the policies ofderegulation, cuts in social benefits, andprivatisations.
The PSOE defines itself as social democratic,left-wing andprogressive.[48][49][50] It is grouped with other self-styled socialists, social democrats and labour parties in theParty of European Socialists, and supportspro-Europeanism.[51] During his shift to the left in 2017, party leaderPedro Sánchez stood for a refoundation of social democracy in order to transition to apost-capitalist society and endneoliberal capitalism[52] as well as for the indissoluble link between social democracy and Europe.[53]
During theSecond Spanish Republic, the structure of the state was still open within the party, with two differing views, namely acentralist view as well as afederal one competing against one another.[54] The later years of theFrancoist dictatorship saw a period in which the PSOE defended the right to "self-determination of the peoples of Spain", as a reflection of a newer ideological and apragmatist approach of the party.[55] Ultimately, the party, while sticking to its preference for a federal system, gradually ceased to mention the notion ofself-determination during theSpanish transition to democracy.[56] Ideas in support of to the independence of theautonomous territories ofCatalonia, theBasque Country andGalicia, have been adopted by some elements of the party, while the others in the PSOE are heavily critical of said notions, because, as they see it, the principle of territorial equality among the autonomous communities would be under threat if the autonomous territories becameindependent.[57]
Baron: unofficial term for the party's regional leaders. They can be very powerful, especially if they run an autonomous community. There have been conflicts between barons and the central directorate in the past. Somebarons werePasqual Maragall (Catalonia), who did not run for re-election in 2006;Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (Extremadura), who did not run for re-election in 2007;Manuel Chaves (Andalusia), who renounced Andalucia's presidency in 2009 to assume the Third Vice Presidency of the Spanish Government; andJosé Montilla (Catalonia). The termbaron is more colloquial than official, representing the great power regional leaders have in the party, but it has been falling out of use since 2016.
Compañero ("companion", "comrade"): a term of address among Socialists, analogous to the Englishcomrade and the Russiantovarisch.
There have been several currents or internal factions within the PSOE based on personal or ideological affinities. Some of them have ended in splits from the PSOE. Examples of currents include theTerceristas (an historical faction that wished to enter theThird International) and, more recently,Izquierda Socialista (Socialist Left, the left-wing of the party since 1979). Some factions have brought infighting to the party, more notably:
The divide betweenGuerristas (followers ofAlfonso Guerra), andRenovadores (Renewers, right-wing of the party).
^See also labels byGibbons 1999, p. 48: "This was in line with the PSOE's strongly pro-European policies"; andCampoy-Cubillo 2012, p. 163: "The Saharawi cause was embraced not only by the Europeanist PSOE".
^Ruiz Jiménez & Egea de Haro 2011, p. 110: "According to experts' judgement, most political organisations in Spain have been fairly or strongly in favour of European integration since the mid 1980s" (...) "Among nationwide parties, experts have systematically perceived PSOE, CDS and PP as exhibiting strong positive attitudes toward European integration, and these attitudes have also been perceived as stable over time (with small standard deviations)"
^abc"History of PSOE" (in Spanish). PSOE own site.Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved11 July 2007.
^PSOE official website (1 July 2015)."Conócenos - Comisión Ejecutiva Federal" [Know us Federal Executive Congress].www.psoe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved4 February 2021.
Ruiz Jiménez, Antonia M.; Egea de Haro, Alfonso (2011). "Spain: Euroscepticism in a Pro-European Country?".South European Society and Politics.16 (1):105–131.doi:10.1080/13608741003594379.S2CID154858489.
Romero Salvadó, Francisco J. (2010). "Spain's Revolutionary Crisis of 1917: A Reckless Gamble". In Francisco J. Romero Salvadó; Angel Smith (eds.).The Agony of Spanish Liberalism. From Revolution to Dictatorship 1913–23.Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 62–91.doi:10.1057/9780230274648.ISBN978-1-349-36383-4.
Vadillo, Julián (2007). "Desarrollo y debates en los grupos anarquistas de la FAI en el Madrid republicano".Germinal: Revista de estudios libertarios (4):27–65.ISSN1886-3019.
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