Derecha Democrática Española (DDE): el eslabón perdido en la transición de la derecha posfranquista

Abstract

Spanish Democratic Right (DDE) was one of the strangest conservative parties of the Transition. It was promoted in 1978 by Federico Silva and Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora as a division of the faction of People’s Alliance opposed to the Constitution. DDE tried to position itself as a national political right, with “democratic” objectives, but actually with a fracoist identity and principles. Its intentions to unify the whole conservative spectrum –from Manuel Fraga to Blas Piñar– defined the tortuous evolution of a group that reached its maximum popularity during the crisis of the Alliance right and the political inestability of the first legislature. The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution, objectives and principles of this political group, as well as its historical significance in the transition of the post-Franco right.