Dictatorship to Democracy... and Politics!

The young king Juan Carlos I became king and was intrumental in forming the new democracy of Spain, which was based on the 1978 Constitution.  Political power alternated between the Conservative Partido Popular and the PSOE.

Hola Tenerife!

Before making the move to Tenerife, get to know some basic background information about the island.  History, politics, immigration and the economy have all had a large part to play in forming the character of the island we see today.  Statistics can also help to build up a picture of a place.  Population, industry, crime and even the weather form part of the statistical basis for understanding the island.

Government and Politics: Presidents Galore!

From the monarch right down to your local mayor, Spain has a complicated system of government and much power is devolved to autonomous communities such as the Canary Islands.  If the structure of power has confused you, then this short summary will give you a good basic grounding.  As a resident of Tenerife, you have the right to vote, so its worth finding out how the political structure fits together.

Spain’s changing family values

The Spain we see today is very different from the one we learned of in our history classes, which was bound by the strict rule of Catholicism.  The death of Franco and the subsequent 1978 Constitution three years later set the framework for loosening the stranglehold the church had over the State and its people.  New laws and rapid social change prised away the grip of Catholicism, finger by finger, over the following decades as the country underwent an economic boom.  In recent years, the return to power of the socialist party has accelerated some aspects of social change beyond even the norms of most developed countries.  The role of women, structure of the family unit and family values have all changed incredibly fast in just the last two decades.