El capital intangible de la España democrática. La experiencia histórica de la transición política.

Abstract

This article analyzes the process of social construction of memories, and its role in the conformation of collective identities during the Spanish Transition to democracy. In this sense, the memory factors that made possible the hegemony of reformist strategy in the change of regime -specially, the traumatic memory of Spanish Civil War the oblivion of Franquism- are identified. It is stated how, after the death of the dictator Franco, the historical memory of the alive generations conditioned the decision-making process in the sense of favouring the reformist alternative, guaranteed by the turn of the different collective actors towards the idea of an inevitable 'national reconciliation'. Reciprocally, this article explores the way in which the perception of this historical experience has contributed to reshape the collective memories and also to consolidate hegemonic identities in contemporary Spain. The policies of memory tending to turn Transition into the original myth of the new democratic and pro-European Spain as well as the contribution of Spanish Transition, like historical experience, to the formation of global paradigm are analyzed. Finally, break factors that threaten today this model and the functionality that in this context is possible to attribute to recovering of historical memory are analyzed.