The decisive role of the Spanish media in the success of the Spanish democratic transition

Abstract

Not only the enemies of the past reached a consensus to facilitate the Spanish democratic transition and make it a model; but also the media of the time played an important role in that historical circumstance. Debates of a high cultural and political level, especially in magazines such as Cuadranmos para el Dialogo and Triunfo, were able to shape Spanish public opinion at that time in favor of consensus and forgetting the quarrels of the past. During this transition, it is necessary to highlight the date of 1976, which marked a before and after in Spanish newspapers. We are referring to the birth of the emblematic newspaper El país, which has exerted, to this day, a great impact on political life and public opinion in Spain. During the four long decades of Francoism, Spain was a cultural desert, and the media of course. There were only newspapers that made an apology for the dictator, like the people, etc. In this article, we intend to analyze the relevant role of the media in facilitating an exemplary democratic transition in Spain. Likewise, we will establish some parallels between said free and democratic media and the free press in Chile during the democratic transition in this country, from the dictator Augusto Pinochet to democracy. Keywords: Democratic transition, public opinion, a relevant role, apology.