The first edition of this work was published in 1987. At that time, the Franco dictatorship was still a relatively recent experience in the minds of many Spaniards; it was still arguably appropriate to refer to Spain's ‘fragile’ democracy. Now a whole generation has emerged which remembers nothing of the Franco regime, and since 1986 Spain has matured into one more stable democracy within the framework of the European Union (EU). At last the country has shaken off its one-time image of a backward and isolated Latin nation dominated by the army and the Church; no longer can it be said that Spain has no relevance to the mainstream of European and world affairs. Indeed, in recent years, in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world, Spain's relatively smooth transition from dictatorship to democracy has been seen as a model for achieving peaceful political change. On the other hand, the curve of economic development has been subject to greater instability, and Spain has only recently begun to recover after suffering severely during the world recession of the early 1990s. Spain's levels of unemployment, for example, have consistently been the highest in the European Union. None the less, many countries which still suffer the kind of backwardness experienced by Spain not many decades ago will envy the standard of living now enjoyed by the majority of the Spanish people.