The glorious twenty-five

I use an expression coined by Jean Fourastié to describe the period from 1945 to 1975 (The Glorious Thirties), which was characterised by constant economic growth and a series of exceptional changes in the world.

The same happened in Spain from 1982 onwards, a period in which our country recovered its international presence and historical role; in which there was a singularly important economic development (per capita income rose from 4,200 to 24,000 dollars); and in which major changes were made in education and health.

Human rights and civil liberties have been similarly advanced, with a remarkable level of development and an extraordinary modernisation of the justice system.

During this period, a profound and exemplary territorial decentralisation was carried out; a unique and complex process in which political powers were transferred to the Autonomous Communities that are greater than those enjoyed today by many federal states. 

Indeed, following the appointment by the Congress of Deputies of Calvo Sotelo as President of the Government, one of his first decisions was to request Spain's incorporation into NATO, which took place on 30 May 1982.

Its permanence would be endorsed by the Spanish people during the presidency of Felipe González, although it joined the military structure in 1999.

After joining the defence organisation, Spain joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union), in the construction of which we have maintained a permanent commitment, since for Spaniards the Union is synonymous with freedom, prosperity and well-being.

With its presence in these two organisations, our country recovered, after decades of isolation, a prominent role on the international scene, based on the collaboration and agreement between the democratic political parties that were able to draw up a State policy, the key to our outstanding foreign action from that time onwards.

Through an intelligent combination of bilateral agreements, especially with the United States, sister countries in Latin America and the Arab and Maghrebi countries, on the one hand, and with multinational organisations, on the other, initiated by President Felipe González, our country gained the sympathy, respect and credibility necessary to participate actively in the search for peaceful solutions to the most sensitive conflicts. 

As a result of its growing international prestige, Spain successfully intervened in the process of recovering freedoms in communist countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Due to its ascendancy, it was entrusted with the organisation against the clock (in just twelve days) of the important and complex Madrid Peace Conference, whose aim was to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine; a summit attended by George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, together with the most prominent dignitaries from Europe and the Middle East.

A few months later, two major events took place: The Barcelona Olympic Games and the Universal Exhibition in Seville, two festive events that the Spanish people unanimously supported and through which the great progress we had achieved was conveyed to the world.

Unfortunately, in those years ETA's terrorist brutality reached its peak of cruelty.

The greatest atrocities took place in the attacks on Hipercor in Barcelona, in which twenty-one people were killed, and in the Guardia Civil barracks in Vich and Zaragoza, also with twenty-one people killed, ten of whom were children and young people between the ages of 3 and 17. I still remember with awe the pain and heartbroken bitterness of the parents and relatives at the funerals of the Zaragoza bombing.

All these indiscriminate murders were carried out in the name of freedom in one of the most democratic countries in Europe, where the 1978 Constitution abolished the death penalty.

After the alternation of power, when the Popular Party won the 1996 general elections, President Aznar maintained the dialogue and the guidelines previously agreed on the major state issues, especially in the fight against terrorism.

In this regard, special mention should be made of the 2002 Organic Law on Political Parties and the success of Spain's accession to the single European currency, the EURO.

The new anti-terrorist pact between PSOE and PP in 2000 (neither the PNV nor EA signed it) and the new Law on Political Parties represented a significant step forward in the fight against the murder and extortion carried out by ETA.

Fortunately, with this law, approved by 93% of the Congress of Deputies, Herri Batasuna, a party that made no secret of its support for this murderous organisation and which, with the public income it received from its presence in institutions, provided economic support to the terrorist group, was outlawed.

This illegalisation was subsequently endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights.

The economic measures adopted by the Popular Party government were aimed at meeting the requirements imposed by the European Union to join the European single currency, including deficit and public debt control and labour market flexibilisation.

All objectives were met on schedule.

To achieve this, public companies were privatised, public spending was contained and a new pact was signed with the trade unions UGT and CCOO, the business organisation CEOE and the government itself.

With the fulfilment of these objectives and joining the EURO, the Spanish economy entered a period of strong economic growth.

In foreign policy, however, there was a change that would lead to major disagreements between the two major parties.

President Aznar took part in the famous Azores meeting in 2001 with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, from where the three leaders sent an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein.

Spain subsequently formed part of the coalition that invaded Iraq, although the Spanish contingent joined after the fall of Baghdad.

As in any government administration, there are moments of brilliance and others in which those in charge have to face tragic situations.

José María Aznar had to deal with one of the most painful and tragic situations a ruler can face. Undoubtedly, it was not only tragic for him, it was also tragic for the whole of Spanish society, for all good people; I am referring to the terrible Atocha bombings. On the fateful 11th March 2004, in the middle of the election campaign, several bombs exploded on four Madrid commuter trains, killing 192 people and injuring almost 2,000.

It was the bloodiest attack in Europe - a murderous act that shocked the world.

I cannot forget the horror I felt, like so many others, when I heard the terrible news on the radio.

With ETA blamed for this macabre criminal action, we all declared our radical condemnation and support for the Spanish Government; so did candidate Rodríguez Zapatero, along with other political leaders.

However, a few hours later, police investigations attributing the attack to Islamist terrorism linked to Al-Qaeda sowed confusion and mistrust about the government's claims, which continued to stand by their first version.

Support for the government remained strong and vocal, but so did demands for clarification of the perpetrators.
Incomprehensibly, even after the courts later concluded that the Atocha bombings had been perpetrated by Islamic terrorists, certain sectors of the PP continued to implicate ETA in the attacks.

I am convinced that this was not the case. ETA has always sought arguments to justify its spurious actions.

The Hipercor massacre in Barcelona they claimed with proud arrogance, they had warned, but, in their opinion, the oppressive state acted negligently to discredit it: the democratic state was to blame.

The attacks in Vich and Zaragoza were claimed with haughty arrogance: according to them, the real culprits in the deaths of the ten children they murdered were their parents, who were hiding behind them in the barracks.

Such dehumanised arguments were used to justify cruel murders that they never concealed, but rather, on the contrary, they vindicated them with blind murderous pride.

These were prosperous years for Spaniards, during which Spain gained great prestige and international credibility.

A period of time in which we demonstrated our capacity to overcome difficulties and make progress when we use dialogue and agreement as instruments, when we act united and our leaders know how to sacrifice their partisan and personal interests for the benefit of all.