Editing Conservatism (section)

==== Spain ====
{{Conservatism in Spain}}
Conservatism in Spain is represented by the center-right [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] and ultra-right [[Vox (political party)|Vox party]]. The People's Party has its roots in the People's Alliance founded on 9 October 1976 by former [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] minister [[Manuel Fraga]]. Although Fraga was a member of the reformist faction of the Franco regime, he supported an extremely gradual transition to democracy. However, he badly underestimated the public's distaste for Francoism. Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the large number of former Francoists in the party led the public to perceive it as both [[reactionary]] and [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]]. In the June [[1977 Spanish general election|1977 general election]], the AP garnered only 8.3 percent of the vote, putting it in fourth place.

The PP joined the [[European People's Party]] in 1991.<ref name="JansenHecke2011">{{cite book|author1=Thomas Jansen|author2=Steven Van Hecke|title=At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXEA8XGdEb8C&pg=PA51|year= 2011|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-642-19414-6|page=51}}</ref>

The PP became the largest party for the first time in 1996, and [[José María Aznar]] became Prime Minister with the support of the [[Basque Nationalist Party]], the [[Catalonia|Catalan]] [[Convergence and Union]] and the [[Canarian Coalition]]. In the 2000 elections, the PP gained an [[absolute majority]].

In August 2003, [[Mariano Rajoy]] was appointed Secretary General by Aznar. Thus, Rajoy became the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the [[2004 Spanish general election|2004 general election]], held three days after the [[11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings]], and which Rajoy lost by a big margin to [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] (PSOE) leader [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]].

The PP under [[Mariano Rajoy]] opposed the PSOE government after the PP lost the [[2004 Spanish general election|general election in 2004]], arguing that this victory was influenced by the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|Madrid bombings]] of 11 March 2004. At a national level, its political strategy has followed two main axes, both linked to Spain's delicate regional politics: first, opposing further administrative devolution to Catalonia by means of the newly approved "Estatut" or Statute of Catalonia that lays out the powers of the Catalan regional government. Second, it remains opposed to political negotiations with the Basque separatist organisation [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]].

The prospect of increased demands for autonomy in the programs of Catalan and Basque parties, and Zapatero's alleged favouring of them, became a focus for the party's campaign for the [[2008 Spanish general election|March 2008 general election]]. [[Lehendakari|Basque President]] [[Juan José Ibarretxe]]'s proposal for a unilateral referendum for the solution of the [[Basque Conflict]] was another important issue.

The People's Party under Rajoy has an increasingly patriotic, or [[nationalism|nationalist]],{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} element to it, appealing to the sense of "Spanishness" and making strong use of national symbols such as the [[Flag of Spain|Spanish flag]]. Prior to the national celebrations of Spanish Heritage Day, Rajoy made a speech asking Spaniards to "privately or publicly" display their pride in their nation and to honor their flag, an action which received some criticism from many political groups of the Congress.

Vox was founded in December 2013, splitting from the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] (PP).<ref name="Reuters1">{{cite news|last=O'Leary|first=Elisabeth|date=16 January 2014|title=Spanish ruling party rebels launch new conservative party|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-idUSBREA0F1HM20140116|access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> The [[party platform]] called for the rewriting of the [[Spanish constitution]] so as to curb regional autonomy and abolish regional parliaments.<ref name="Reuters1" /> Several founding members of the party (for example, [[Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca|Alejo Vidal-Quadras]], [[José Antonio Ortega Lara]], and [[Santiago Abascal]]) had been members of the platform "reconversion.es", which had issued a manifesto in 2012 calling for a [[Political unitarism|recentralization]] of the State.<ref name="casals2019pp">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.politicaprosa.com/catalunya-i-la-espana-viva-de-vox/ |journal=Política & Prosa|date=1 April 2019|first=Xavier|last=Casals|issue=5|author-link=Xavier Casals i Meseguer |title=Catalunya i 'la España viva' de Vox}}</ref> Vidal-Quadras was proclaimed as the first chairman in March 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |work=Crónica Global |url=https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/vox-elige-a-vidal-quadras-como-su-primer-presidente_5576_102.html|title=Vox elige a Vidal-Quadras como su primer presidente|date=8 March 2014}}</ref>