The Spanish Second Civil War

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On 11 March 2004 a series of bombs exploded in commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. The bombings killed 191 people and wounded more than 1800, and the intention of the perpetrators has been to influence the outcome of the Spanish general election, held three days later. Though initial suspicions focused on the Basque group ETA, evidence soon emerged indicating possible Islamist involvement. Because of the proximity of the election, the issue of responsibility quickly became a political controversy, with the main competing parties PP and PSOE exchanging accusations over the handling of the aftermath.

Subsequent media investigations have shown that some elements of police, disobeying and breaking the chain of command previously reported to the leaders of the PSOE than to their superiors and the government. The PSOE used that information to directly blame PP for the attacks because of its position as U.S. ally in the Iraqi war.

At 14 March elections, PSOE, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, obtained a plurality, enough to form a new cabinet with Rodríguez Zapatero as the new Presidente del Gobierno or Prime Minister of Spain, thus succeeding the former PP administration.

Spain 2004-2008: The return to the 30s
Since coming to power, President Rodríguez Zapatero was self-proclaimed heir to the Second Republic, removing any legitimacy not only to the years of Franco's dictatorship but also the democratic transition that he considered the heir of Franco. Buried in its struggle to return to Spain in the decade of the 30s, the early years of his rule were marked by constant attacks on the Monarchy, the Catholic religion and the military.

The attacks on the Catholic religion began with the withdrawal of any Catholic symbol of public life and ended up forcing the removal of all crosses from any public building, removing religion from schools, prohibiting the existence of Catholic schools, eliminating any kind of agreement with the Holy See and confiscating properties of the Catholic Church. The attacks against the Catholic religion were much more severe in the days before the 2008 elections, when two nuns died after being brutally raped by a group of anti-Catholic protesters with the passivity of the police.

The president began to take roles that the constitution gave the Head of State and gradually the figure of the king was being removed from political life and contributions to the royal family were drastically reduced.

Meanwhile in the army most of the generals were passed to the reserve and its place occupied by members of the Socialist Party or military related. The military academies were closed and the defense budget cut in half.

Meanwhile, his government began a political negotiation with ETA terrorists, wich were allowed to stand for regional elections (despite the protests of the victims of terrorism and opposition parties) where they obtained representation.

In this period marked by the ideological extremism of the president and his government, the international prestige of Spain fell sharply. Foreign policy actions were limited to promoting relations with totalitarian regimes, especially the Muslims. The fact that finally damaged the relations of Spain with other European nations and forced them to close the borders was the massive legalization of millions of illegal immigrants mostly from Africa and South America. This was considered by the opposition as an attempt to artificially change the country's cultural traditions and varying statistics on religious affiliation. The immediate result of the massive regularization was an exponential increase in crime and civil unrest.

The economic situation got worse during this period due to lack of government interest in economic affairs and especially by the huge government spending to finance its policies that led the country to the verge of bankruptcy.

April 2007: Euskadi proclaims its independence
As the situation in Spain was deteriorating, in the Basque Country the sense of independence was growing. Not only focused on the radical ideology of ETA, but also between moderate people who thought that independence would serve to restore their economic and social status. In addition, the EAJ-PNV (Basque Nationalist Party and the majority political force in the Basque Country) was a party with deep Catholic roots that showed increasing dissatisfaction with the drift of the government of Spain.

On February 19, 2007, regional elections were held in the Basque Country. The election was won with absolute majority by the EAJ-PNV (Basque Nationalist Party). A month later, Ignacio Unanue Laburu was elected  Lehendakari (Chief Minister) and the day after his election he signed a decree  declaring unilaterally the independence of Basque Country.

Surprisingly in a few hours, 20000 soldiers from Eusko Gudarostea (Basque Army) fully armed and equipped took control of the Basque Country and set up border controls with Spain and FGC.

The day after the declaration of independence, Euskadi was recognized and publicly supported by the Baltic Union (months later it was known that Baltic Union was who armed and equipped the Eusko Gudarostea soldiers) and in the next days the new nation was recognized by other European and worldwide nations as a sign of the low prestige that Spain and the Spanish Government had in the world.

Meanwhile in Spain the Rodríguez Zapatero government, prisoner of its radical ideology, renounced to any attempt to use force against Euskadi and proposed a political solution. Although Euskadi was never officially recognized by Spain, during the following months that Spain existed as a nation, the government did not take any direct action to abort the independence.

Year 2008 and the May general election
The year 2008 began with a country deeply divided between supporters and opponents of President Rodriguez Zapatero. On one side were the far left holding the president, the millions of immigrants legalized, the the increasingly influential Muslim parties and a lot of "anti" and paramilitary groups organized and financed by the government. On the other side were the center-right parties, members of the PSOE unhappy with Rodriguez Zapatero's policies and a large part of civil society.

In a final attempt to secure re-election at any price to continue with his radical policies the government granted citizenship to all immigrants legalized in previous years, allowing them to vote in the May elections.

Meanwhile the army remained resigned and subject to strict political control of government. However, discontent was growing especially evident among young officers.

In April, a month before the election, the president Rodríguez Zapatero announced that he will abolish the monarchy if it is reelected. The King, sick and unable to react went into exile with his family in London.

The days before the election turned the streets of big cities especially Madrid, Valencia and Seville on a battlefield when extreme left-wing armed groups supported by Muslim parties attacked and burned several churches, including cathedrals of Madrid and Seville in response by the fire of a mosque in Madrid.

Government is accused of electoral fraud
The situation of tension and chaos did not improved the day of elections and opposition parties claimed hundreds of polling irregularities. Missing ballots, postal votes of deceased persons, votes of not registered persons, etc. Published election results left no doubt that there had been massive fraud, the coalition of extreme left wing parties led by President Rodriguez Zapatero won the majority while the opposition center-right was in third place behind the coalition of Muslim parties.

Opposition parties accused the government of electoral fraud and fights in the streets plunged Madrid and other areas of southern Spain into chaos. Hundreds of thousands of people left Madrid and went to towns and cities in northern Spain. On 13 June government ordered the army to act and restore the order, but a majority of officers refused to obey causing a split in the army.