On the eve of its first democratic elections in over forty years, Spain is again a major battlefield in a global ideological conflict. The June 15 elections will take place against a backdrop of terror in the Basque provinces and the Canaries, savage clashes between police and left-wing demonstrators, unrest in the barracks, and deepening Communist (including Soviet) penetration. It is hard to gauge whether the democratic experiment is going to work, although to some observers it seems little short of a miracle that it is getting under way at all.
With the government apparatus and the state-run television corporation behind him, and with the personal backing of King Juan Carlos, the young prime minister, Adolfo Suarez (who is running on the ticket of the Democratic Center coalition), will probably be returned to govern. But with some two hundred parties and a half-score of electoral alliances in the field, Suarez’ largely artificial coalition is unlikely to get a clear majority of the votes. It will need to make a deal with other groups.
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