Introduction

Economically, Spain has been inextricably bound up with Europe since the early 1960s as the policy of economic self-sufficiency, autarky, gave way to liberalisation and the country began to trade more freely with the outside world (1.1.3). Politically, however, integration was long delayed. Spain's 1962 application to join the then European Economic Community (EEC) as an associate member was ignored by countries which found Franco's political regime unacceptable. The maximum to which the country could aspire – and that albeit with conditions that barely favoured Spain – was a preferential trade agreement signed in 1970. After the dictator's death, however, economic and political integration could follow parallel paths. Pending the outcome of the protracted negotiations on EC entry following the elections of the country's new democratic credentials were endorsed by her acceptance, as early as October into the Council of Europe (15.3.9.1). Membership of NATO, while not of course a purely European organisation, also conferred a degree of additional political respectability on Spain and gave her the opportunity to become involved in dialogue with her European neighbours, most of whom were also members. The major economic and foreign policy objective of successive Spanish governments, however, became reality when on 12 June 1985 King Juan Carlos signed the Treaty of Accession in Madrid, thus paving the way for Spanish entry into the European Community (EC) as from 1 January 1986. This date marks an important watershed in the political, economic, social and cultural evolution of Spain.