Student Opposition

• Due to Spain's socio-economic transformation, a radical student population emerged. Many university students felt alienated from Franco's regime and the traditional culture that Franco advocated.
• Students demanded that Spain should become a democratic nation and adopted tactics such as:

  • protest marches
  • strikes
  • occupation of buildings
• University lectures were also drawn to support the student protests and openly criticised the regime. In 1969 a state of emergency was declared in response to continued worker and student protests and unrest.
• By the early 1970s, the demands of many Spanish students became more radical. Many students became critical of capitalism and drawn to the ideological principles of anarchism.
• In 1965, Franco's dictatorship responded to student unrest by banning the official student union (SEU). However, many students interpreted the regime's instruction to the security services to show restraint as a weakness and the protests continued.
• Franco's regime tried to encourage students to join the government National Movement in 1969 to help end student opposition but the majority of students rejected the effort.
• The government reverted to using repression. In 1971, martial law was introduced to stop student protests in Grenda. Although, repression failed to put an end to student unrest.