Felipe González: Spain's divisive economic legacy

Felipe González: The president who deindustrialized Spain

Was Felipe González a disastrous president for Spain? This question, unresolved for decades, resurfaces whenever a former Socialist leader grabs the headlines. His alleged record is damning: deindustrialization, unemployment above 20% upon leaving office, joining NATO after promising the opposite, politicizing the judiciary and savings banks (Cajas de Ahorros), and scandals from Filesa to Roldán. While the debate isn't new, accumulated evidence allows us to organize the charges.

Industrial restructuring and EU accession treaty

The primary charge is economic, centered on the EU accession treaty. Critics argue this agreement favored German, French, and Dutch industries at Spain's expense, causing structural unemployment. They claim industrial restructuring dismantled manufacturing capacity to comply with community demands and avoid competing with partners. Consequently, the economy shifted toward hospitality and small retail, unable to absorb labor demand.

Others offer a more mundane explanation: state subsidies for industry ended, and Spaniards bought foreign cars when they could. One Economy Minister of the era stated that the best industrial policy is no policy at all. The shift to a service-based economy was not an accident, but a choice.

Unemployment, precarious contracts, and temp agencies

When González left office, unemployment exceeded 20%, the most cited statistic. This coincided with the rise of temporary work agencies, which took a large share of workers' earnings, and the proliferation of "cochambre" (junk) contracts. Precarity was not a side effect; it was policy.

Comparisons with other terms are frequent. Some place González ahead of Zapatero in job destruction quantitatively, while reserving qualitative judgment for Sánchez, accused of atomizing society. The hierarchy of damage is disputed, but the starting point—over twenty points of unemployment—is uncontested.

NATO, GAL, and foreign policy: broken promises

Another fixed charge is breaking the promise to withdraw from NATO, leading to protests in 1985. Also criticized were establishing diplomatic ties with Israel, opposed by the Spanish left due to Palestinian treatment, and the GAL case, where human rights abusa allegedly occurred. Regarding the GAL, some argue responsibility was shared by major parties, noting Aznar pardoned implicated leaders to stabilize the post-1978 regime.

Savings banks, judiciary, and corruption: institutional architecture

The 1985 Law on Savings Banks (Ley de Ordenación y Regulación de las Cajas de Ahorros) inserted politicians into these entities, ultimately ruining them. The same year's Organic Law of the Judiciary politicized justice, giving parties control over judicial appointments. This explains why politicians rarely face jail time. Scandals include Filesa, Juan Guerra, Roldán, Ibercorp, Red Cross issues, RENFE sales, and BOE irregularities. A cardinal respected by the left claimed corruption under González exceeded Franco's era.

LOGSE, tax pressure, and shifting narratives

In education, the LOGSE law is seen as lowering cultural standards and creating subsidized private schools (escuelas concertadas) that drain public funds, ironically from a party claiming secularism. Tax pressure increased on working classes. Some link drug prevalence in poor neighborhoods to crisis and unemployment, though evidence remains inconclusive.

Notably, the narrative has shifted. Conservatives who despised González in the nineties now defend him. Many suggest attacking him today aims to whitewash Sánchez by comparison. Each president, it is said, made the previous one look good.

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Ultimately, there is no peaceful resolution. Some see González as the regime's founder responsible for deindustrialization. Others view him as a saint compared to what trinc. The only undisputed figure is the 20% unemployment rate. Everything else is interpretation.