On November 20, 1975, General Francisco Franco died after having ruled under an authoritarian system for almost forty years. On May 15, 1977, a little less than two years later, the first democratic elections in Spain since 1936 took place. Three months before these elections, the government of President Adolfo Suarez approved a Decree-Law, the objective of which was to set the electoral process down in law. This law also regulated the electoral expenditures and revenues of the political parties and established state subsidies to help pay electoral expenses. The public financing of party expenses incurred in local elections was approved in July, 1978. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 sanctioned a national territorial organization on a regional basis. There are a total of seventeen regions, or Communidades Autónomas. Each of them has its own political institutions and a certain degree of political and administrative autonomy, the limits of which are set by the Constitution itself and by the Statutes of each Community. The elections for the regional parliaments also receive public financing. The first elections, conducted in the Basque Country and Catalonia, took place in 1980. Normal party activities also are publicly financed. Annual subsidies to parties were established by the Political Parties Law of 1978.

In other words, the Spanish political parties receive, on one hand, state support for electoral expenses on the local, regional and national levels and, on the other hand, public revenues to finance their ordinary activities.