The Barcelona tram strike was a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, that took place on March 1, 1951. During the strike, citizens

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

ed the Barcelona tram service, protesting a plan by local authorities to increase tram fares by up to 40%. Although the strike did not achieve all of its goals, it was successful in having the fare increase withdrawn. It was considered "the last battle of the generation that lost the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Historical importance

Francoist Spain prohibited the organization of strikes. The Spanish dictator,

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, considered strikes an unchanging part of the "law of the jungle in primitive societies." The Barcelona tram strike was the first strike organized since the Spanish Civil War, and it also represented one of the first large scale demonstrations against the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

. In Barcelona, slogans began to circulate urging people to refrain from tram usage, such as:

"Be a good citizen, show your courage. Starting March 1, hoof it to work."
"If you want your morning jolly, stay away from the trolley."

The cause was a proposed hike in ticket prices, which was perceived as unfair in comparison with prices in Madrid. Additionally, there was a feeling of deep malaise among the population due to the harsh living conditions in Catalonia since the end of the Civil War. The strike had political repercussions, particularly abroad.

Content and support

For two weeks, citizens refused to use

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, making their journeys on foot and participating in numerous protest demonstrations. Some protesters resorted to violence, and one tram was set on fire. Although some authors consider the strike a spontaneous movement, others indicate that it was a result of the

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

tradition of the city, given the fact that it was later supported by militants of the CNT, FNC, and others; even the leader of the PSUC was arrested. The civil governor, , knew that many Falangists had been acting in concert with the protestors, to the point of using their vehicles to transport pedestrians who supported the boycott. Faced with this insubordination, he attempted to set the Party against the population, but the Falangists refused to obey, on days three, four, and five, the dictates of their theoretical Provincial Chief.

Consequences

The governor used the Civil Guard in clashes that resulted in deaths on March 12. Finally, both he and the

Mayor of Barcelona This is a list of mayors of Barcelona since 1835. The Mayor of Barcelona is the highest political authority of the City Council of Barcelona, Barcelona City Council. In accordance with Organic Law 5/1985, of June 19, on the General Electoral Regi ...

, , were dismissed and the price hike was revoked. The conflict extended to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 2 April, but the "National Day of Protest" organized for 20 May was a failure. The

Government of Spain The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the ...

decided to act moderately in repressing the strikes. It attributed them publicly to the actions of Communist elements, who, having failed in their

armed struggle War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organiz ...

, had changed their tactics, trying to use the existing discontent of the working class in their favour. Armando Marchante Gil, ''Las líneas maestras de nuestra política'' en ''40 años en la vida de España'',

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, 1986

References

External links

*
La huelga de tranvías de Barcelona de 1951
{{Authority control Anti-Francoism History of Barcelona 1951 in Catalonia Labour disputes in Spain 1951 labor disputes and strikes 1951 in politics Trams in Barcelona Boycotts of organizations

Historical importance

Content and support

Consequences

See also

References

External links