(23 Apr 1978) Spanish Communist leaders, Dolores Ibassuri and Santiago Carrillo closed the ninth Spanish Communist Party Congress on Sunday (23 April) with speeches to a jubilant crowd of 20,000 people, reconfirmed in their posts of party leadership following an unprecented break with "Leninism". Carrillo, 63, who engineered the removal of Lenin's name from the party's political label, was re-elected Saturday night (22 April) as General Secretary, a position he has held since 1960. 82 year-old Mrs Ibarruri, who earned the name "La Pasionaria", (the passionate one) during the 1936-39 spanish civil war, was re-elected as party president, a largely figurehead position.
In his speech at the rally, Carrillo, told the crowd that never again would the Spanish Communist Party be a monolithic organisation. He said that from now on there would not be a single, total idea for the party but a confrontation of ideas. Carrillo insisted that the change in the official description of the party's ideology did not mean a disavowal of Lenin but merely the updating of the party's policies.
Dolores Ibarruri, told the crowd that the congress was a great moment in Spanish history. She said that seeing so many supporters assured her that her life had not been in vain. She said that the party's aim was to reach Socialism in Spain by democratic and peaceful means. Such a policy could become contrary to the more violent ideas and practices of Leninism but she said that such policies were what the Spanish people wanted
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