Iberia

At the end of the Second World War the pro-Axis dictatorships of Franco and Salazar were a genuine embarrassment to Europe, as their economies struggled into the late 40’s it seemed that the slightest push would teeter them over the edge and back into the International Community. While money paid to Spain by Churchill was propping up Franco’s dictatorship his health was certainly going to cause problems for the future of Nationalist Spain, after a series of strokes the Generalissimo passed away on the 14th of March 1951. After a month of National mourning the Spanish authorities believed that it would be best to appoint the heir to the throne, Juan III, as head of state. King Juan began the process of liberalising the realm however this did not go far enough for the liking of certain high-ranking Republicans.
Catalan separatists came together with Socialist militant, Esperanza Alveres, and declared the Republic of Catalonia in September 1952. Despite approaches from the Soviet Union the country remained a liberal democracy and received support from the nations and was granted membership of the European Economic Community in 1953, despite Spanish protests NATO accepted Catalan membership and this state evolved into a liberal democracy. The situation would not be so simple in Spain, in 1955 political turmoil would ensure Portugal’s unwise declaration of war on her Iberian neighbour. Some say that this was an attempt by Salazar to show that he was truly calling the shots on the Iberian continent and was even pushed to go to war by Britain and the United States who feared an embittered Spain. After a short-lived war the Spanish were triumphant and began to exact their revenge over Salazar’s Portugal. The state of Iberia was declared, it would be a Federal system with the Galician’s being removed from the Spanish sphere of influence into a Portuguese autonomous region. This new state was to be ruled over by King Juan III and its capital was in Lisbon, in 1963 Iberia was admitted into both NATO and the EEC and has since recovered into a stable trading partner for Western nations. 
Democracy was no so quick to catch on in Iberia; King Juan remains the head of state and has a great deal of control over domestic and foreign policy – since the formation of Iberia the Partido Popular has been the party of power and has merely been in government to serve the interests of their King. It is widely believed that elections are fixed. Iberia has been on icy terms with Catalonia since its creation and it is a source of conflict within the EEC, some loyalists within Catalonia do wish to see its integration into the Iberian economic powerhouse whilst others claim its lack of democracy as a severe stumbling block.