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For all intents and purposes, the history of contemporary Spain began with the death of dictator Francisco Franco on the 20 November 1975, the accession of King Juan Carlos I to the throne and the establishment of the parliamentary monarchy. In 1978, the current Spanish Constitution of 1978 was signed and the status of Spain's autonomous entities (''autonomías'') was defined. ==Road to elections (1975–1977)== (詳細はMovimiento Nacional. * A complete overhaul of the previous system. Sectors of the opposition who supported this move assembled as the Junta Democráctica. However, fearing a reaction from the military, other members of the opposition preferred concessions with the previous regime, thus creating the Plataforma de Convergencia Democrática. * A gradual reform of the previous system and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. This idea was championed by the King, who had a minority of followers. In his coronation speech, the King had opened the possibility for reform along the lines of constitutional monarchy. However, for this to be possible, high-ranking officials from the previous regime had to be ejected from power. The first act the King did was to name Torcuato Fernández Miranda, his old teacher, as the President of the Cortes and of the Consejo del Reino. This gave the King control over the Cortes and provided him with critical assistance to dismantle the old regime within a legal framework. Torcuato Fernández Miranda was despised by the falangists and was a staunch supporter of reform. The new government included many "reformists" like Manuel Fraga, who was the visible head of the government. Manuel Fraga often argued with the opposition (even imprisoning leaders of the ''Platijunta'', a hybrid coalition of the Junta Democrática and the Plataforma de Convergencia Democrática), whom he wanted to get out of the way. Fraga preferred "slow evolution" into democracy, unlike the King. Carlos Arias Navarro consistently impeded the King's wishes of accelerating reform. As a result, the King had to get rid of him, as it seemed he had caved in under pressure from the ''bunker''. Whereas the King could not dismiss Carlos Arias Navarro based on still relevant laws from Franco's regime, in an interview with ''Newsweek'' on 26 April 1976, the King expressed his discontent with Arias. In June 1976, Arias signed his resignation. Adolfo Suárez took his place as the President of the Government on 3 July 1976. Suárez came from a Franquist background, so as a result he could not count on the support of the old regime ''bunker'', the reformists or the opposition. After Fraga declined to participate in the new government, lesser known politicians formed the new Cabinet. Adolfo Suárez was a staunch supporter of the King's reform policies. As these events unfolded, a lesser amnesty was conceded to political prisoners of the old regime. Next, Suárez took it upon himself to reform the Cortes and to establish the legal framework for the elections. Suárez's new government wrote the Political Reform Act in 1977. It called for the Cortes to be divided into two Chambers, consisting of a Congress with 350 members and a Senate with 201. After being pressured by the King and by Suárez, the Cortes signed their own demise and approved the reform, which was held to test with a popular referendum. An overwhelming majority approved the change (94% in favour). This law required the government to convoke general elections, but it had to legalise political parties first. They were in fact legalised soon after, with the limitation that their manifestos had to abide by the law. On 23 March 1977, the laws regulating elections were published in the BOE, thus officially coming into effect. A wide amnesty was also proclaimed on 17 March. Violence was not uncommon. The most striking event was the 1977 massacre of Atocha, where seven lawyers working for the Comisiones Obreras (a syndicate affiliated to the Communist Party) were murdered by right-wing extremists. There was also violence from left-wing groups, like ETA (which continued to campaign violently for the independence of the Basque Country) or new groups like GRAPO, a Maoist group, or MPAIAC, a Canarian independence group. The Spanish Communist Party was legalised on Holy Saturday (9 April) to prevent the military from reacting. This led to the resignation of the Minister of the Navy and an Army General. Santiago Carrillo, the Communist Party Secretary, had renounced republicanism and the Republican flag. On 14 May, don Juan de Borbón renounced his rights to the throne in favour of Juan Carlos in La Zarzuela. Shortly after, Torcuato Fernández Miranda resigned due to political differences with Adolfo Suárez. Fernández Miranda wanted to establish a system similar to that of the United States, with a centre-left and a centre-right party alternating in power. Elections, which took place on 15 June 1977, produced the following results for Spanish Congress: * Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD, Unión de Centro Democrático), a centre-right party led by Suárez obtained 166 seats * Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, Partido Socialista Obrero Español), a centre-left party, obtained 118 seats. * Communist Party of Spain (PCE, Partido Comunista Español), a left-wing party, obtained 20 seats. * People's Alliance (AP, Alianza Popular), right-wing party, formed by ex-franquists and led by Manuel Fraga, obtained 16 seats. * Pacte Démocratic per Catalunya (PDC, Pacte Démocratic per Catalunya), centre-right Catalonian party, obtained 11 seats. * Basque Nationalist Party (PNV, Partido Nacionalista Vasco), centre-right Basque party obtained 8 seats. * Other parties, including left-wing Basque and Catalonian separatists, Christian democrats and extreme left-wing parties obtained 11 seats. 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