Labor Day in Spain

[5] Their concern turned out to be unnecessary, however, since the working class was already organizing itself for manifestations on May 1, as all had heard about the decision made at the conference held in Paris earlier in the year.

The socialists organized thousands of workers, who after a public meeting marched to the Council of Ministers to deliver their revindications, then dissolving into smaller protests.

Spain's first Día del Trabajador showed undeniable success, as even though specific gains were not seen everywhere, both the government and individual bosses become conscious of the fact that the working class needed attention.

[5] The violence brought on by the celebration, however, caused the Spanish government to prohibit public manifestations, which meant that Primero de Mayo in 1890 was much less exciting and mobilizing as it had been the year before.

Respecting the law, socialists limited their day to a break from work and private celebration, while the anarchists maintained their one-day strike.

[6] Since the Republican zone was in no condition to hold real protests mid-war, for the next several years only small, secret acts (mostly in theaters) were held to celebrate the working class's fight against Franco's army.

[6] A notable protest was that of 1947 in Biscay, which brought to light the problems faced by the population with high living cost and low salaries due to the war.

Outside of Spain, refugees of the war and those exiled by Franco continued to celebrate Primero de Mayo, which allowed them to denounce the Spanish State.

Even before officially recognized again, however, the lack of an authoritarian entity continuously repressing the working class's complaints was seen as a large step in the right direction.

Primero de Mayo in 1977 marked the beginning of today's Día del Trabajador in Spain, since the major labor unions that had been either stagnant or very slow in their development during Franco's reign were now re-legalized and more active than ever.

[8] It was not until 1978 that it was re-legalized as a national holiday,[2] and since then every year's Primero de Mayo has worked more and more in favor of the unions who compose the day's manifestations.

The holiday's reinstitution by Spain's democracy showed positive results, since the day before 1979's Primero de Mayo the Ministry of Labor announced the creation of approximately 280,000 jobs in the near future.