The Greening of Underground and Antifrancoist Working Class Movement and the limits of Trade Unionism and Enviromentalism nexus in Spain (1967-1977).

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of environmentalism and underground working-class movement in Spain during the final years of Franco’s dictatorship. It also examines how industrialization and the Francoist regime’s developmental policies, which led to severe environmental degradation, fueled opposition among the working class, especially in industrial regions and in Aragon, our regional case. The research highlights the paradox of workers opposing the very industries that provide their livelihood, driven by the deteriorating living conditions due to industrial pollution and poor urban planning. It outlines how environmental protest, often indicated by women and local communities, became a platform for broader anti-Francoist opposition. The paper discusses key events, such as anti-pollution urban working-class campaigns and resistance against large infrastructures projects like dams and nuclear plants in Aragon, which were linked to the regime’s modernization efforts. We develop a regional approach, focusing on Aragon, due to the availability of local archives and detailed data they provide about environmental discourses and actions. This method allows for a nuanced understanding of how environmental conflicts and working-class opposition to Francoism were deeply intertwined and created a Environmentalism-Unionism nexus. The study also examines the role of underground trade unions and political organisations, especially industrial and peasants trade unions, in supporting environmental protests and framing them within a broader struggle against the dictatorship. Finally, the research reconstructs the moment of rupture of the environmentalism-unionism nexus with the entry of democracy (1978).