1977 Spanish general election

On June 15, 1977, Spain held its first free election since 1936, before the Civil War, and 78.8 percent of voters turned out. Adolfo Suárez's centrist UCD came first with 165 seats, 11 short of a majority, and Felipe González's PSOE took 118 to become the clear main party of the left. This is the model case of a transition negotiated from inside the old regime, and the result explains why it held: no side won enough to impose its will, so the parties had to bargain over the 1978 constitution. The test came on February 23, 1981, when Civil Guard officers stormed the Congress; the King's televised address undermined the coup and the hostage-takers surrendered the next morning.