The first democratic elections of June 1977 gave a majority in Catalonia to the parties who proposed that the Generalitat and self-government be restored. On 11 September that year, a million Catalans demonstrated, demanding the same. Both factors forced the re-establishment of a provisional Generalitat and the return of its president, Josep Tarradellas, from exile. The 1978 Constitution structured Spain as a state consisting of autonomous communities. In 1979, the Spanish Cortes approved the Catalan Statute of Self-government, which was presented to the Catalan people in a referendum.