Franco, tourism, the European Union and NATO
The Russian October Revolution of 1917 also led to unrest and strikes in Andalusia. In agreement with the Bourbon King, the Spanish General Miguel Primo de Rivera established a military dictatorship on September 13, 1923, which lasted for six years in order to end the repeated state crises. He was forced to resign on January 28, 1930 in order to prevent unrest and uprisings. His children founded the Spanish fascist movement in 1933, which later entered into a political alliance with the dictator Franco, a companion of their father. 2 years earlier, in 1931, Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas founded the “Junta Liberalista de Andalucía” party in Seville, which sought the autonomy of Andalusia. On August 11, 1936, he was shot dead by this Spanish-fascist movement in Seville.
Spain's neutrality during the First World War had brought the country an economic upturn, but no solution to the ongoing political, economic and social tensions. In July 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out between the government and the right-wing putschists under General Francisco Franco. With the support and military intervention of his fascist and National Socialist allies from Italy, Germany and Portugal, Franco was victorious in 1939 and established the Francoist dictatorship, which lasted until his death in 1975.
Franco maintained his country's neutrality during the Second World War and refused to enter the war on the side of National Socialist Germany and Fascist Italy. In the Cold War after 1945, he was one of the leading European anti-communists and pursued a restrictive foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. The support of the USA in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, which returned the favour with economic and political aid at the end of the 1950s, ended Spain's isolation and legitimized the Franco regime internationally. From the 1960s onwards, Spain industrialized with considerable growth, particularly in the steel, construction and textile sectors, thanks to remittances from Spanish emigrants, income from the emerging tourism industry and the controlled opening up to investment and trade.
After Franco's death in November 1975, the transition phase from Francoism to a Western-style parliamentary monarchy began. On February 28, 1980, the Andalusians successfully voted for autonomy in a referendum against fierce opposition from the central government. The “Día de Andalucía”, also known as “28.F”, has been an official holiday in Andalusia ever since. Due to his commitment to Andalusian autonomy, Blas Infante Pérez de Vargas is referred to as the “Padre de la Patria Andaluza”, the father of the Andalusian homeland, in the preamble to the Andalusian Statute of Autonomy. After the failed Francoist coup in February 1981, Spain's path to becoming a modern, democratic constitutional state was consolidated. Spain was admitted to NATO in 1982.
Spain became a full member of the European Union in 1986. Andalusia's agriculture, industry and tourism benefited from this integration, especially as the internal borders between the member states had been opened a year earlier with the Schengen Agreement. The major tour operators now advertised uncomplicated flight connections to the beaches and towns on the Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz. City trips to Seville, Granada, Córdoba (all three were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO between 1984 and 1987) and Málaga became popular. There was also a steady increase in domestic tourism by Spanish vacationers. European retirees and pensioners increasingly settled permanently on the Andalusian coasts to spend their twilight years in the warm Mediterranean climate. In 1992, the World Expo was held in Seville. Airports, rail infrastructure and the road network were renewed and expanded. Fishing, olive, almond, fruit, wine and vegetable cultivation in Andalusia supplied agricultural products to the whole of Europe. In 1999, Andalusia joined the eurozone.