Editing Spain (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Spain}}

=== Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples ===
{{Main|Prehistoric Iberia}}
[[File:2014 Castro de Santa Trega. Galiza-2.jpg|thumb|Celtic castro in Galicia]]
Archaeological research at [[Archaeological site of Atapuerca|Atapuerca]] indicates the Iberian Peninsula was populated by [[hominid]]s 1.3&nbsp;million years ago.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6256356.stm|title='First west Europe tooth' found|publisher=BBC|date=30 June 2007|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021003923/http://encarta.msn.com/text_761575057___0/Spain.html|archive-date=21 October 2009}}</ref>

Modern humans first arrived in Iberia from the north on foot about 35,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=William D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWj4tnHCj04C |title=A Concise History of Spain |last2=Phillips |first2=Carla Rahn |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-60721-6 |pages=12 |language=en}}</ref> The best-known artefacts of these prehistoric human settlements are the paintings in the [[Altamira (cave)|Altamira cave]] of Cantabria in northern Iberia, which were created from 35,600 to 13,500 [[Before Common Era|BCE]] by [[Cro-Magnon]].<ref name="Science2012">{{cite journal|last1=Pike|first1=A. W. G.|last2=Hoffmann|first2=D. L.|last3=Garcia-Diez|first3=M.|last4=Pettitt|first4=P. B.|last5=Alcolea|first5=J.|last6=De Balbin|first6=R.|last7=Gonzalez-Sainz|first7=C.|last8=de las Heras|first8=C.|last9=Lasheras|first9=J. A.|last10=Montes|first10=R.|last11=Zilhao|first11=J.|title=U-Series Dating of Paleolithic Art in 11 Caves in Spain|journal=Science|volume=336|issue=6087|year=2012|pages=1409–1413|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.1219957|pmid=22700921|bibcode=2012Sci...336.1409P|s2cid=7807664}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bernaldo de Quirós Guidolti|first1=Federico|last2=Cabrera Valdés|first2=Victoria|journal=Complutum|volume=5|year=1994|title=Cronología del arte paleolítico|url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=164330&orden=1&info=link|access-date=17 November 2012|issn=1131-6993|pages=265–276|format=PDF|archive-date=12 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033428/https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CMPL/article/view/CMPL9494120265A|url-status=live}}</ref> Archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that the Iberian Peninsula acted as one of several major refugia from which northern Europe was repopulated following the end of the [[Quaternary glaciation|last ice age]].

The two largest groups inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula before the Roman conquest were the [[Iberians]] and the [[Celts]]. The Iberians inhabited the Mediterranean side of the peninsula. The Celts inhabited much of the interior and Atlantic sides of the peninsula. [[Basques]] occupied the western area of the Pyrenees mountain range and adjacent areas; Phoenician-influenced [[Tartessos|Tartessians]] flourished in the southwest; and [[Lusitanians]] and [[Vettones]] occupied areas in the central west. Several cities were founded along the coast by [[Phoenicia]]ns, and trading outposts and colonies were established by [[Greek colonisation|Greeks]] in the East. Eventually, Phoenician-[[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginians]] expanded inland towards the meseta; however, due to the bellicose inland tribes, the Carthaginians settled on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula.

=== Roman Hispania and the Visigothic Kingdom ===
{{Main|Hispania|Visigothic Kingdom}}
[[File:Teatro de Mérida, España, 2017 18.jpg|thumb|The [[Roman Theatre (Mérida)|Roman Theatre]] in [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]]]]
During the [[Second Punic War]], roughly between 210 and 205&nbsp;BCE, the expanding [[Roman Republic]] captured Carthaginian trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast. Although it took the Romans nearly two centuries to complete the [[Roman conquest of the Iberian peninsula|conquest of the Iberian Peninsula]], they retained control of it for over six centuries. Roman rule was bound together by law, language, and the [[Roman road]].<ref name="hispania">{{cite web|last=Payne|first=Stanley G.|title=A History of Spain and Portugal; Ch. 1 Ancient Hispania|publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources Online|year=1973|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008122627/https://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The cultures of the pre-Roman populations were gradually [[Romanization of Hispania|Romanised]] (Latinised) at different rates depending on what part of the peninsula they lived in, with local leaders being admitted into the Roman aristocratic class.{{efn|The ''[[latifundia]]'' (sing., ''latifundium''), large estates controlled by the aristocracy, were superimposed on the existing Iberian landholding system.}}<ref name="country">{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain. Chapter 1 – Hispania|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+es0014)|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922143456/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+es0014%29|archive-date=22 September 2008 }}</ref>

Hispania (the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula) served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbours exported gold, [[wool]], [[olive oil]], and wine. Agricultural production increased with the introduction of irrigation projects, some of which remain in use. Emperors [[Hadrian]], [[Trajan]], [[Theodosius I]], and the philosopher [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] were born in Hispania.{{efn|The poets [[Martial]], [[Quintilian]] and [[Lucan]] were also born in Hispania.}} Christianity was introduced into Hispania in the 1st century CE, and it became popular in the cities in the 2nd century.<ref name="country" /> Most of Spain's present languages and religions, as well as the basis of its laws, originate from this period.<ref name="hispania" /> Starting in 170 CE, incursions of North-African [[Mauri]] in the province of [[Hispania Baetica|Baetica]] took place.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://repositorio.iaph.es/bitstream/11532/327602/1/Contribuci%C3%B3n%20al%20estudio%20de%20las%20invasiones%20mauritanas.pdf|chapter=Contribución al estudio de las invasiones mauritanas de la Bética en el siglo II|first=Carlos|last=Alonso Villalobos|year=1984|publisher=Sociedad Española de Estudios Clásicos|title=Actas del II Congreso Andaluz deEstudios Clásicos|volume=II|access-date=5 July 2022|archive-date=5 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191228/https://repositorio.iaph.es/bitstream/11532/327602/1/Contribuci%C3%B3n%20al%20estudio%20de%20las%20invasiones%20mauritanas.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Coronas votivas visigodas en el MAN (16846328238) (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Votive crown]] of [[Recceswinth]] from the [[Treasure of Guarrazar]]]]

The [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Suebi]] and [[Vandals]], together with the [[Sarmatian]] [[Alans]], entered the peninsula after 409, weakening the Western Roman Empire's jurisdiction over Hispania. The Suebi established a kingdom in north-western Iberia, whereas the Vandals established themselves in the south of the peninsula by 420 before crossing over to North Africa in 429. As the western empire disintegrated, the social and economic base became greatly simplified; the successor regimes maintained many of the institutions and laws of the late empire, including Christianity and assimilation into the evolving Roman culture.

The [[Byzantine]]s established an occidental province, [[Spania]], in the south, with the intention of reviving Roman rule throughout Iberia. Eventually, however, Hispania was reunited under [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigothic rule]].

=== Muslim era and ''Reconquista'' ===
{{See also|Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Al-Andalus|Reconquista}}
From 711 to 718, as part of the expansion of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] which had [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|conquered North Africa]] from the [[Byzantine Empire]], nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Muslims from across the Strait of Gibraltar, resulting in the collapse of the Visigothic Kingdom. Only a small area in the mountainous north of the peninsula stood out of the territory seized during the initial invasion. The [[Kingdom of Asturias|Kingdom of Asturias-León]] consolidated upon this territory. Other Christian kingdoms, such as [[kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]] and [[kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]] in the mountainous north, eventually surged upon the consolidation of counties of the Carolingian ''[[Marca Hispanica]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – Castile and Aragon|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+es0016)|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-date=22 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922142215/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+es0016)|url-status=live}}</ref> For several centuries, the fluctuating frontier between the Muslim and Christian-controlled areas of the peninsula was along the [[Ebro]] and [[Douro]] valleys.
[[File:Palacios Nazaríes in the Alhambra (Granada). (51592334991) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The [[Court of the Lions]] and its central fountain in the [[Alhambra]] complex]]
Conversion to [[Islam]] proceeded at an increasing pace. The ''[[Muwallad|muladíes]]'' (Muslims of ethnic Iberian origin) are believed to have formed the majority of the population of Al-Andalus by the end of the 10th century.<ref>[http://libro.uca.edu/ics/ics5.htm Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages. Chapter 5: Ethnic Relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403051916/http://libro.uca.edu/ics/ics5.htm |date=3 April 2017 }}, Thomas F. Glick</ref><ref name="chap2">{{cite web|last=Payne|first=Stanley G.|title=A History of Spain and Portugal; Ch. 2 Al-Andalus|publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources Online|year=1973|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008122627/https://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

A series of [[Viking]] incursions raided the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula in the 9th and 10th centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Viking raids on the spanish peninsula|first=Rolf|last=Scheen|journal=Militaria. Revista de Cultura Militar|issue=8|year=1996|url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/MILT/article/download/MILT9696110067A/3416/0|pages=67–73|access-date=13 April 2022|archive-date=13 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413040655/https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/MILT/article/download/MILT9696110067A/3416/0|url-status=live}}</ref> The first recorded Viking raid on Iberia took place in 844; it ended in failure with many Vikings killed by the Galicians' [[ballista]]s; and seventy of the Vikings' longships captured on the beach and burned by the troops of King [[Ramiro I of Asturias]].

In the 11th century, the Caliphate of Córdoba collapsed, fracturing into a series of petty kingdoms (''[[Taifa]]s''),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RtpCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|title=Handbook of Medieval Culture|first=Albrecht|last=Classen|date=31 August 2015|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|via=Google Books|isbn=9783110267303|access-date=10 December 2018|archive-date=12 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033453/https://books.google.com/books?id=3RtpCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|url-status=live}}</ref> often subject to the payment of a form of [[protection racket|protection money]] (''[[Parias]]'') to the Northern Christian kingdoms, which otherwise undertook a southward territorial expansion. The capture of the strategic city of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in 1085 marked a significant shift in the balance of power in favour of the Christian kingdoms.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lansing |first1=Carol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re-1YpI9ObsC |title=A Companion to the Medieval World |last2=English |first2=Edward D. |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-49946-7 |pages=323 |language=en}}</ref> The arrival from North Africa of the Islamic ruling sects of the [[Almoravids]] and the [[Almohads]] achieved temporary unity upon the Muslim-ruled territory, with a stricter, less tolerant application of Islam, and partially reversed some Christian territorial gains.

[[File:Ferdinand of Aragon, Isabella of Castile (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Catholic Monarchs of Spain]]]]

The [[Kingdom of León]] was the strongest Christian kingdom for centuries. In 1188, the first form (restricted to the bishops, the magnates, and 'the elected citizens of each city') of modern parliamentary session in Europe was held in [[León (Spain)|León]] ([[Cortes of León]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=VAN ZANDEN |first1=JAN LUITEN |last2=BURINGH |first2=ELTJO |last3=BOSKER |first3=MAARTEN |date=29 July 2011 |title=The rise and decline of European parliaments, 1188-17891 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2011.00612.x |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=835–861 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2011.00612.x |s2cid=154956049 |issn=0013-0117 |access-date=24 November 2022 |archive-date=12 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033403/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2011.00612.x |url-status=live |hdl=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2011.00612.x |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The [[Kingdom of Castile]], formed from Leonese territory, was its successor as strongest kingdom. The kings and the nobility fought for power and influence in this period. The example of the Roman emperors influenced the political objective of the Crown, while the nobles benefited from [[feudalism]].

Muslim strongholds in the [[Guadalquivir Valley]] such as Córdoba (1236) and [[Seville]] (1248) fell to Castile in the 13th century. The [[County of Barcelona]] and the [[Kingdom of Aragon]] entered in a dynastic union and gained territory and power in the Mediterranean. In 1229, [[Mallorca]] was conquered, so was [[Valencia]] in 1238. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the North-African [[Marinid]]s established some enclaves around the Strait of Gibraltar. Upon the conclusion of the [[Granada War]], the [[Kingdom of Granada|Nasrid Sultanate of Granada]] (the remaining Muslim-ruled polity in the Iberian Peninsula after 1246) capitulated in 1492 to the military strength of the [[Catholic Monarchs]], and it was integrated from then on in the Crown of Castile.<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=[[Brill (publisher)|Brill]]|chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004443594/BP000014.xml|title=The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada between East and West|first=Roser|last=Salicrú i Lluch|chapter=Granada and Its International Contacts |pages=124–125|doi=10.1163/9789004443594_006|year=2020|isbn=9789004443594|s2cid=243153050|access-date=13 April 2022|archive-date=13 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413053115/https://brill.com/view/book/9789004443594/BP000014.xml|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Spanish Empire ===
{{Main|Spanish Empire}}
[[File:La sevilla del sigloXVI.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Late 16th-century Seville, the harbor enjoying the exclusive right to trade with the New World]]
In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united by the marriage of their monarchs, Isabella I and Ferdinand II, respectively. In 1492, Jews were forced to choose between conversion to Catholicism or expulsion;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16200-spanish-inquisition-left-genetic-legacy-in-iberia.html|title=Spanish Inquisition left genetic legacy in Iberia|work=New Scientist|date=4 December 2008|access-date=18 January 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328024905/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16200-spanish-inquisition-left-genetic-legacy-in-iberia.html|archive-date=28 March 2014 }}</ref> as many as 200,000 Jews were [[Expulsion of Jews from Spain|expelled from Castile and Aragon]]. The year 1492 also marked the arrival of [[Christopher Columbus]] in the [[New World]], during a voyage funded by Isabella. Columbus's first voyage crossed the Atlantic and reached the Caribbean Islands, beginning the European exploration and conquest of the Americas.

The [[Treaty of Granada]] guaranteed religious tolerance towards Muslims,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/treaty1492.html|title=The Treaty of Granada, 1492|publisher=Islamic Civilisation|access-date=13 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924075453/http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/treaty1492.html|archive-date=24 September 2008}}</ref> for a few years before Islam was outlawed in 1502 in Castile and 1527 in Aragon, leading the remaining Muslim population to become nominally Christian ''[[Morisco]]s''. About four decades after the [[War of the Alpujarras]] (1568–1571), over 300,000 [[Expulsion of the Moriscos|''moriscos'' were expelled]], settling primarily in North Africa.<ref name="cong">{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – The Golden Age|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809003309/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|archive-date=9 August 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:Spanish Empire (diachronic).svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Diachronic map of the Spanish Empire]]
The unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile by the marriage of their sovereigns laid the basis for modern Spain and the Spanish Empire, although each kingdom of Spain remained a separate country socially, politically, legally, and in currency and language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/Imperial.html|title=Imperial Spain|access-date=13 August 2008|publisher=University of Calgary|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629000351/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/Imperial.html|archive-date=29 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y84wAgaXxo4C&pg=PA472|title=Handbook of European History|publisher=Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial España|isbn=90-04-09760-0|year=1994|access-date=4 January 2022|archive-date=12 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033400/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y84wAgaXxo4C&pg=PA472|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Habsburg Spain]] was one of the leading world powers throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and became the world's leading [[Spanish Navy|maritime power]]. It reached its apogee during the reigns of the first two Spanish Habsburgs—[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V/I]] (1516–1556) and [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] (1556–1598). This period saw the [[Italian Wars]], the [[Schmalkaldic War]], the [[Dutch Revolt]], the [[War of the Portuguese Succession]], clashes with the [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars|Ottomans]], intervention in the [[French Wars of Religion]] and the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Payne|first=Stanley G.|title=A History of Spain and Portugal; Ch. 13 The Spanish Empire|publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources Online|year=1973|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008122627/https://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Principales Rutas Comerciales del Imperio Español.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Main trade routes of the Spanish Empire]]
Through exploration and conquest or royal marriage alliances and inheritance, the [[Spanish Empire]] expanded across vast areas in the Americas, the Indo-Pacific, Africa as well as the European continent (including holdings in the Italian Peninsula, the [[Low Countries]] and the [[Franche-Comté]]). The so-called [[Age of Discovery]] featured explorations by sea and by land, the opening-up of new [[trade route]]s across oceans, conquests and the beginnings of European [[colonialism]]. [[Precious metal]]s, spices, luxuries, and previously unknown plants brought to the metropole played a leading part in transforming the European understanding of the globe.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|author-link=Hugh Thomas (writer)|title = Rivers of gold: the rise of the Spanish Empire|publisher=George Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2003|location=London|pages=passim|isbn=978-0-297-64563-4}}</ref> The cultural efflorescence witnessed during this period is now referred to as the [[Spanish Golden Age]]. The expansion of the empire caused immense upheaval in the Americas as the collapse of societies and empires and new diseases from Europe devastated American indigenous populations. The rise of [[humanism]], the [[Counter-Reformation]] and new geographical discoveries and conquests raised issues that were addressed by the intellectual movement now known as the [[School of Salamanca]], which developed the first modern theories of what are now known as [[international law]] and human rights.
[[File:Comuneros.jpg|thumb|right|"The ''Comuneros'' Padilla, Bravo and Maldonado in the ''Patíbulo''", by [[Antonio Gisbert]], 1860]]
Spain's 16th-century maritime supremacy was demonstrated by the victory over the [[Ottoman Empire]] at the [[Battle of Lepanto]] in 1571 and over Portugal at the [[Battle of Vila Franca do Campo|Battle of Ponta Delgada]] in 1582, and then after the setback of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588, in a series of victories against [[England]] in the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604]]. However, during the middle decades of the 17th century Spain's maritime power went into a long decline with mounting defeats against the [[Dutch Republic]] ([[Battle of the Downs]]) and then England in the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660)|Anglo-Spanish War of 1654–1660]]; by the 1660s it was struggling to defend its overseas possessions from pirates and privateers.

The [[Protestant Reformation]] increased Spain's involvement in religiously charged wars, forcing ever-expanding military efforts across Europe and in the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne15.htm|title=The Seventeenth-Century Decline|access-date=13 August 2008|publisher=The Library of Iberian resources online|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921003150/http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne15.htm|archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> By the middle decades of a war- and [[Great Plague of Seville|plague]]-ridden 17th-century Europe, the Spanish Habsburgs had enmeshed the country in continent-wide religious-political conflicts. These conflicts drained it of resources and undermined the economy generally. Spain managed to hold on to most of the scattered Habsburg empire, and help the imperial forces of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] reverse a large part of the advances made by Protestant forces, but it was finally forced to recognise the [[Portuguese Restoration War|separation of Portugal]] and the United Provinces (Dutch Republic), and eventually suffered some serious military reverses to France in the latter stages of the immensely destructive, Europe-wide [[Thirty Years' War]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Payne|first=Stanley G.|title=A History of Spain and Portugal; Ch. 14 Spanish Society and Economics in the Imperial Age|publisher=The Library of Iberian Resources Online|year=1973|url=http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008122627/https://libro.uca.edu/payne1/spainport1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In the latter half of the 17th century, Spain went into a gradual decline, during which it surrendered several small territories to France and England; however, it maintained and enlarged its vast overseas empire, which remained intact until the beginning of the 19th century.

====18th century====
[[File:La familia de Felipe V (Van Loo).jpg|thumb|[[The Family of Philip V (1743)|The family of Philip V]]. During the [[Enlightenment in Spain]] a new royal family reigned, the [[House of Bourbon]].]]
The decline culminated in a controversy over succession to the throne which consumed the first years of the 18th century. The [[War of the Spanish Succession]] was a wide-ranging international conflict combined with a civil war, and was to cost the kingdom its European possessions and its position as a leading European power.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – Spain in Decline|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809003309/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|archive-date=9 August 2008 }}</ref>

During this war, a new dynasty originating in France, the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]], was installed. The Crowns of Castile and Aragon had been long united only by the Monarchy and the common institution of the Inquisition's [[Spanish Inquisition|Holy Office]].<ref>{{Cite journal|page=75|journal=Revista de Dret Històric Català|volume=18|year=2019|publisher=Societat Catalana d'Estudis Jurídics|issn=1578-5300|doi=10.2436/20.3004.01.119|title=Una aproximación a la Corona de Aragón de Fernando el Católico|first=Josep|last=Serrano Daura|issue=18 }}</ref> A number of reform policies (the so-called [[Bourbon Reforms]]) were pursued by the Monarchy with the overarching goal of centralised authority and administrative uniformity.<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=A Concise History of Spain|first1=William D.|last1=Phillips|first2=Carla Rahn|year=2010|isbn=9780521845137|last2=Phillips|page=175}}</ref> They included the abolishment of many of the old regional privileges and laws,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – Bourbon Spain|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809003309/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|archive-date=9 August 2008 }}</ref> as well as the customs barrier between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile in 1717, followed by the introduction of new property taxes in the Aragonese kingdoms.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Modern Spain: A Social History|first=James|last=Casey|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=1999|isbn=9780415138130|page=83}}</ref>

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and an increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The predominant economic policy was an interventionist one, and the State also pursued policies aiming towards infrastructure development as well as the abolition of internal customs and the reduction of export tariffs.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5589876.pdf|chapter=El Despotismo Ilustrado en España: entre la continuidad y el cambio|author-link=Carlos Martínez Shaw|first=Carlos|last=Martínez Shaw|title=El Siglo de las Luces: III Centenario del Nacimiento de José de Hermosilla (1715-1776)|year=2016|isbn=978-84-608-8037-0|page=14|publisher=Sociedad Extremeña de Historia|access-date=13 April 2022|archive-date=19 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419023430/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5589876.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Projects of agricultural colonisation with new settlements took place in the south of mainland Spain.{{Sfn|Martínez Shaw|2016|pp=14; 23}} [[Enlightenment in Spain|Enlightenment]] ideas began to gain ground among some of the kingdom's elite and monarchy.

=== Liberalism and nation state ===
{{Main|Contemporary history of Spain|Mid-19th-century Spain|Spanish American wars of independence|Spanish–American War|Anarchism in Spain|Second Spanish Republic}}
[[File:Jura Constitución Fernando VII (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ferdinand VII swears on the 1812 Constitution before the Cortes in 1820.]]
In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new [[First French Republic|French Republic]] as a member of [[War of the First Coalition|the first Coalition]]. The subsequent [[War of the Pyrenees]] polarised the country in a reaction against the [[Francization|gallicised]] elites and following defeat in the field, peace was made with France in 1795 at the [[Peace of Basel]] in which Spain lost control over two-thirds of the island of [[Hispaniola]]. In 1807, a secret treaty between [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] and the unpopular prime minister led to a new declaration of war against Britain and Portugal. French troops entered the country to invade Portugal but instead occupied Spain's major fortresses. The Spanish king abdicated and a puppet kingdom satellite to the French Empire was installed with [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as king.

The [[Dos de Mayo Uprising|2 May 1808 revolt]] was one of many uprisings across the country against the French occupation.<ref>David A. Bell. "[https://archive.today/20120922013528/http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/napoleonic_wars/6361907.html?page=2&c=y Napoleon's Total War]". TheHistoryNet.com</ref> These revolts marked the beginning of a devastating [[Peninsular War|war of independence]] against the Napoleonic regime.<ref>(Gates 2001, p. 20.)</ref> Further military action by Spanish armies, [[guerrilla]] warfare and an Anglo-Portuguese allied army, combined with [[Napoleon's Invasion of Russia|Napoleon's failure on the Russian front]], led to the retreat of French imperial armies from the Iberian Peninsula in 1814, and the return of [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|King Ferdinand VII]].<ref>(Gates 2001, p. 467.)</ref>

During the war, in 1810, a revolutionary body, the [[Cortes of Cádiz]], was assembled to coordinate the effort against the Bonapartist regime and to prepare a constitution.<ref>{{cite book|author= Alvar Ezquerra, Jaime|title=Diccionario de historia de España|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4JQIkW1yrsC&pg=PA209|year=2001|publisher=[[Ediciones Akal]]|isbn=978-84-7090-366-3|page=209}} Cortes of Cádiz (1812) was the first parliament of Spain with sovereign power</ref> It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish empire.<ref>{{cite book|title=Independence of Spanish America|last=Rodríguez|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://www.google.es/search?tbm=bks&hl=es&q=%22It+met+as+one+body%2C+and+its+members+represented+the+entire+Spanish+world%22&btnG=|quote=It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish world|access-date=20 June 2013|archive-date=10 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310230600/https://www.google.es/search?tbm=bks&hl=es&q=%22It+met+as+one+body%2C+and+its+members+represented+the+entire+Spanish+world%22&btnG=|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1812, a [[Spanish Constitution of 1812|constitution]] for universal representation under a constitutional monarchy was declared, but after the fall of the Bonapartist regime, the Spanish king dismissed the Cortes Generales, set on ruling as an [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarch]].
[[File:Baldomero Espartero.jpg|thumb|General and statesman [[Baldomero Espartero]], a key political figure in the 19th century]]
The French occupation of mainland Spain created an opportunity for overseas [[Criollo people|''criollo'']] elites who resented the privilege towards [[Peninsulars|Peninsular elites]] and demanded [[retroversion of the sovereignty to the people]]. Starting in 1809 the American colonies began a series of revolutions and declared independence, leading to the [[Spanish American wars of independence]] that put an end to the metropole's grip over the [[Spanish Main]]. [[Reconquista (Spanish America)|Attempts to re-assert control]] proved futile with opposition not only in the colonies but also in the Iberian peninsula and army revolts followed. By the end of 1826, the only American colonies Spain held were [[Captaincy General of Cuba|Cuba]] and [[Captaincy General of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rico]]. The Napoleonic War left Spain economically ruined, deeply divided and politically unstable. In the 1830s and 1840s, [[Carlism]] (a reactionary legitimist movement supportive of an alternative Bourbon branch), fought against the government forces supportive of Queen [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]]'s dynastic rights in the [[Carlist Wars]]. Government forces prevailed, but the conflict between [[Progressive Party (Spain)|''progressives'']] and ''[[Moderate Party (Spain)|moderates]]'' ended in a weak early constitutional period. The 1868 [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Glorious Revolution]] was followed by the 1868–1874 progressive ''[[Sexenio Democrático]]'' (including the short-lived [[First Spanish Republic]]), which yielded to a stable monarchic period, the [[Restoration (Spain)|Restoration]] (1875–1931).<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eX7cXu4N2AUC&pg=PA33|page=33|title=Elecciones y cultura política en España e Italia (1890–1923)|editor-first=Rosa Ana|editor-last=Gutiérrez|editor-first2=Rafael|editor-last2=Zurita|editor-first3=Renato|editor-last3=Camurri|publisher=[[University of Valencia|Universitat de València]]|location=Valencia|year=2003|isbn=84-370-5672-1|chapter=Caciquismo y mundo rural durante la Restauración|first=Salvador|last=Cruz Artacho|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=12 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912033420/https://books.google.com/books?id=eX7cXu4N2AUC&pg=PA33|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Episodio de la revolución de 1854 en la Puerta del Sol (cropped).JPG|thumb|right|[[Spanish Revolution of 1854]] in [[Puerta del Sol]], Madrid. [[Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies]] fled to exile and [[Baldomero Espartero]] became regent.]]

In the late 19th century nationalist movements arose in the Philippines and Cuba. In 1895 and 1896 the [[Cuban War of Independence]] and the [[Philippine Revolution]] broke out and eventually<!--For whatever reasons; it is not for here to go into long explanations!--> the United States became involved. The [[Spanish–American War]] was fought from April to August 1898 and resulted in Spain losing the last of its once vast colonial empire outside of North Africa. ''El Desastre'' (the Disaster), as the war became known in Spain, gave added impetus to the [[Generation of '98]]. Although the period around the turn of the century was one of increasing prosperity, the 20th century brought little social peace. Spain played a minor part in the [[scramble for Africa]]. It remained neutral [[Spain during World War I|during World War I]]. The heavy losses suffered by the colonial troops in conflicts in northern Morocco against Riffians forces brought discredit to the government and undermined the monarchy.

Industrialisation, the development of railways and incipient capitalism developed in several areas of the country, particularly in [[Barcelona]], as well as [[labour movement]] and socialist and anarchist ideas. The [[1870 Barcelona Workers' Congress]] and the [[1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition]] are good examples of this. In 1879, the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]] was founded. A trade union linked to this party, [[Unión General de Trabajadores]], was founded in 1888. In the anarcho-syndicalist trend of the labour movement in Spain, [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo]] was founded in 1910 and [[Federación Anarquista Ibérica]] in 1927.

Catalanism and Vasquism, alongside other nationalisms and regionalisms in Spain, arose in that period: the [[Basque Nationalist Party]] formed in 1895 and [[Regionalist League of Catalonia]] in 1901.

Political corruption and repression weakened the democratic system of the constitutional monarchy of a two-parties system.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oligarquía y caciquismo, Colectivismo agrario y otros escritos: (Antología)|last=Costa|first=Joaquín|author-link=Joaquín Costa}}</ref> The July 1909 [[Tragic Week (Spain)|Tragic Week]] events and repression exemplified the social instability of the time.

The [[La Canadiense strike]] in 1919 led to the first law limiting the working day to eight hours.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Revolutionary Left in Spain, 1914–1923|last=Meaker|first=Gerald H.|date=1974|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=RM6rAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA158 159] ff|isbn=0-8047-0845-2}}</ref>
[[File:01 eibar.jpg|thumb|Women voting in [[Éibar]] in 1933, after [[women's suffrage]] was approved. Deputy [[Clara Campoamor]] was a key figure for the right to be granted.]]

After a period of Crown-supported dictatorship from 1923 to 1931, the first elections since 1923, largely understood as a plebiscite on Monarchy, took place: the [[1931 Spanish local elections|12 April 1931 municipal elections]]. These gave a resounding victory to the Republican-Socialist candidacies in large cities and provincial capitals, with a majority of monarchist councilors in rural areas. The king left the country and the proclamation of the Republic on 14 April ensued, with the formation of a provisional government.

A [[Spanish Constitution of 1931|constitution]] for the country was passed in October 1931 following the [[1931 Spanish general election|June 1931 Constituent general election]], and a series of cabinets presided by [[Manuel Azaña]] supported by republican parties and the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|PSOE]] followed. In the election held in 1933 the right triumphed and in 1936, the left. During the [[Second Spanish Republic|Second Republic]] there was a great political and social upheaval, marked by a sharp radicalisation of the left and the right. Instances of political violence during this period included the burning of churches, the [[Sanjurjada|1932 failed coup d'état led by José Sanjurjo]], the [[Revolution of 1934]] and numerous attacks against rival political leaders. On the other hand, it is also during the Second Republic when important reforms to modernise the country were initiated: a democratic constitution, agrarian reform, restructuring of the army, political decentralisation and [[Women's suffrage|women's right to vote]].

=== Civil War and Francoist dictatorship ===
{{Main|Spanish Civil War|Spanish Revolution of 1936|Francoist Spain}}
The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936: on 17 and 18 July, part of the military [[Spanish coup of July 1936|carried out a coup d'état]] that triumphed in only part of the country. The situation led to a civil war, in which the territory was divided into two zones: one [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|under the authority of the Republican government]], that counted on outside support from the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Mexico]] (and from [[International response to the Spanish Civil War#International Brigades|International Brigades]]), and the other controlled by the putschists (the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist or rebel faction]]), most critically supported by [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]]. The Republic was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of [[non-intervention]]. General [[Francisco Franco]] was sworn in as the supreme leader of the rebels on 1 October 1936. An uneasy relationship between the Republican government and the grassroots anarchists who had initiated a partial [[Spanish Revolution of 1936|social revolution]] also ensued.
[[File:Reemplazo republicano.jpg|thumb|Republican volunteers at [[Teruel]], 1936]]
The civil war was viciously fought and there were [[Spanish Civil War#Atrocities|many atrocities committed by all sides]]. The [[Spanish Civil War|war]] claimed the lives of over 500,000 people and caused the flight of up to a half-million citizens from the country.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_corrisedrespondent/2809025.stm Spanish Civil War fighters look back]{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, BBC News, 23 February 2003</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/3998443/Relatives-of-Spaniards-who-fled-Franco-granted-citizenship.html|title=Relatives of Spaniards who fled Franco granted citizenship|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 December 2008|access-date=18 January 2014|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723074619/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/3998443/Relatives-of-Spaniards-who-fled-Franco-granted-citizenship.html|archive-date=23 July 2013 }}</ref> On 1 April 1939, five months before the beginning of [[World War II]], the rebel side led by Franco emerged victorious, imposing a dictatorship over the whole country. Thousands were imprisoned after the civil war in [[Francoist concentration camps]].

The regime remained nominally "[[neutrality (international relations)|neutral]]" for much of the Second World War, although it was [[Spain in World War II|sympathetic]] to [[Axis Powers|the Axis]] and provided the Nazi [[Wehrmacht]] with [[Blue Division|Spanish volunteers in the Eastern Front]]. The only legal party under Franco's dictatorship was the [[Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS]] (FET y de las JONS), formed in 1937 upon the merging of the Fascist [[Falange Española de las JONS]] and the Carlist traditionalists and to which the rest of right-wing groups supporting the rebels also added. The name of "[[Movimiento Nacional]]", sometimes understood as a wider structure than the FET y de las JONS proper, largely imposed over the later's name in official documents along the 1950s.
[[File:Meeting at Hendaye (en.wiki).jpg|thumb|right|Spanish leader [[Francisco Franco]] and [[Adolf Hitler]] at the [[Meeting at Hendaye]], 1940]]
After the war Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations. This changed in 1955, during the [[Cold War]] period, when it became strategically important for the US to establish a military presence on the Iberian Peninsula as a counter to any possible move by the Soviet Union into the Mediterranean basin. US Cold War strategic priorities included the dissemination of American educational ideas to foster modernization and expansion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Óscar |first1=Martín García |title=Soft Power, Modernization, and Security: US Educational Foreign Policy Toward Authoritarian Spain in the Cold War |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=May 2023 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=198–220 |doi=10.1017/heq.2023.5|s2cid=258190145 |hdl=10251/201668 |hdl-access=free  | issn = 0018-2680 }}</ref> In the 1960s, Spain registered an [[Spanish miracle|unprecedented rate of economic growth]] which was propelled by [[Spanish miracle#Industrialization|industrialisation]], a mass internal migration from rural areas to [[Madrid]], [[Barcelona]] and the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]] and the creation of a mass tourism industry. Franco's rule was also characterised by [[Francoist Spain#Fascism and authoritarianism|authoritarianism]], [[Francoist Spain#Spanish nationalism|promotion of a unitary national identity]], [[National Catholicism]], and [[Language policies of Francoist Spain|discriminatory language policies]].

=== Restoration of democracy ===
{{Main|Spanish transition to democracy|Spanish society after the democratic transition}}
[[File:De proclamatie en beëdiging van Prins Juan Carlos tot Koning van Spanje tijdens , Bestanddeelnr 254-9763.jpg|thumb|left|Juan Carlos I before the Cortes Españolas, during his proclamation as King on 22 November 1975]]
In 1962, a group of politicians involved in the opposition to Franco's regime inside the country and in exile met in the congress of the [[European Movement]] in Munich, where they made a resolution in favour of democracy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/06/09/actualidad/1339259231_174858.html|title=El contubernio que preparó la democracia|work=EL PAÍS|date=9 June 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405102702/http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/06/09/actualidad/1339259231_174858.html|archive-date=5 April 2013|last1=Villena|first1=Miguel Ángel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movimientoeuropeo.org/area-prensa/actividades/Contubernio-Munich-50-aniversario.php|title=Contubernio de Múnich: 50 años|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021124653/http://www.movimientoeuropeo.org/area-prensa/actividades/Contubernio-Munich-50-aniversario.php|archive-date=21 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lavanguardia.com/hemeroteca/20120605/54303390132/contubernio-munich-politica-oposicion-antifranquista-movimiento-europeo.html|title=El contubernio de Munich|work=La Vanguardia|date=4 June 2012|access-date=17 September 2014|archive-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026212625/http://www.lavanguardia.com/hemeroteca/20120605/54303390132/contubernio-munich-politica-oposicion-antifranquista-movimiento-europeo.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

With Franco's death in November 1975, [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|Juan Carlos]] succeeded to the position of [[King of Spain]] and [[head of state]] in accordance with the Francoist law. With the approval of the new [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]] and the [[Spanish transition to democracy|restoration of democracy]], the State [[devolution|devolved]] much authority to the regions and created an internal organisation based on [[autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous communities]]. The [[Spanish 1977 Amnesty Law]] let people of Franco's regime continue inside institutions without consequences, even perpetrators of some crimes during transition to democracy like the [[Massacre of 3 March 1976 in Vitoria]] or [[1977 Massacre of Atocha]].<!-- The 'founding chairman' of the current leading political party in Spain, the [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]], was [[Manuel Fraga Iribarne|Manuel Fraga]] who had been a minister in Franco's government and yet continued with his political career until shortly before his death in 2012.-->

In the Basque Country, moderate [[Basque nationalism]] coexisted with a [[Basque Conflict|radical nationalist movement]] led by the armed organisation [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] until the latter's dissolution in May 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/former_ep_presidents/president-fontaine/speeches/en/sp0066.htm|title=Speech by Mrs Nicole FONTAINE, President of the European Parliament on the occasion of the presentation of the Sakharov Prize 2000 to Basta ya!|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002164901/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/former_ep_presidents/president-fontaine/speeches/en/sp0066.htm|archive-date=2 October 2016}}</ref> The group was formed in 1959 during Franco's rule but had continued to wage its violent campaign even after the restoration of democracy and the return of a large measure of regional autonomy.

On 23 February 1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes in an attempt to impose [[23-F|a military-backed government]]. King Juan Carlos took personal command of the military and successfully ordered the coup plotters, via national television, to surrender.<ref>{{cite news|title=King Orders army to crush coup|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1981/feb/23/spain.fromthearchive|access-date=19 March 2020|work=The Guardian|date=23 February 1981|archive-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005013653/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1981/feb/23/spain.fromthearchive|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Felipe González firma el Tratado de Adhesión de España a la Comunidad Económica Europea en el Palacio Real de Madrid. Pool Moncloa. 12 de junio de 1985.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Felipe González]] signing the treaty of accession to the [[European Economic Community]] on 12 June 1985]]
During the 1980s the democratic restoration made possible a growing open society. New cultural movements based on freedom appeared, like [[La Movida Madrileña]]. In May 1982 Spain joined [[NATO]], followed by [[1986 Spanish NATO membership referendum|a referendum]] after a strong social opposition. That year the [[Spanish Socialist Workers Party]] (PSOE) came to power, the first left-wing government in 43 years. In 1986 Spain joined the [[European Economic Community]], which later became the [[European Union]]. The PSOE was replaced in government by the [[People's Party (Spain)|Partido Popular]] (PP) in 1996 after scandals around participation of the government of [[Felipe González]] in the [[GAL (paramilitary group)|Dirty war against ETA]].

[[File:Barcelona-1992-rr-800.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[1992 Summer Olympics]] in [[Barcelona]]]]
On 1 January 2002, Spain fully adopted the [[euro]], and Spain experienced strong economic growth, well above the EU average during the early 2000s. However, well-publicised concerns issued by many economic commentators at the height of the boom warned that extraordinary property prices and a high foreign trade deficit were likely to lead to a painful economic collapse.<ref>{{cite news|author=Pfanner, Eric|date=11 July 2002|title=Economy reaps benefits of entry to the 'club': Spain's euro bonanza|work=International Herald Tribune |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/business/worldbusiness/11iht-a10_18.html?scp=1&sq=Economy%20reaps%20benefits%20of%20entry%20to%20the%20%27club%27%20:%20Spain%27s%20euro%20bonanza&st=cse|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501090321/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/business/worldbusiness/11iht-a10_18.html?scp=1&sq=Economy%20reaps%20benefits%20of%20entry%20to%20the%20%27club%27%20:%20Spain%27s%20euro%20bonanza&st=cse}} See also: {{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=9118701|title=Spain's economy / Plain sailing no longer|newspaper=The Economist|date=3 May 2007|access-date=9 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613212911/http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=9118701|archive-date=13 June 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2002, the [[Prestige oil spill]] occurred with big ecological consequences along Spain's Atlantic coastline. In 2003 [[José María Aznar]] supported US president [[George W. Bush]] in the [[Iraq War]], and a strong movement against war rose in Spanish society. In March 2004 a local [[Islamist]] terrorist group inspired by [[Al-Qaeda]] carried out the largest terrorist attack in Western European history when they killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 others by [[2004 Madrid train bombings|bombing commuter trains]] in Madrid.<ref>{{cite news|title=Al-Qaeda 'claims Madrid bombings'|date=14 March 2004|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509426.stm|access-date=13 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624220502/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509426.stm|archive-date=24 June 2006|url-status=live}} See also: {{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=Madrid bombers get long sentences|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7070827.stm|access-date=13 August 2008|date=31 October 2007|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114145049/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7070827.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Though initial suspicions focused on the Basque terrorist group [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]], evidence of Islamist involvement soon emerged. Because of the proximity of the [[2004 Spanish general election]], the issue of responsibility quickly became a political controversy, with the main competing parties PP and PSOE exchanging accusations over the handling of the incident.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509744.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Spain votes under a shadow |access-date=13 August 2008|date=14 March 2004|first=Dominic|last=Bailey|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040825175335/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509744.stm|archive-date=25 August 2004}}</ref> The PSOE won the election, led by [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]].<ref>{{cite news|title=An election bombshell|url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2004/03/18/an-election-bombshell|access-date=19 March 2020|newspaper=The Economist|date=18 March 2004|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319233628/https://www.economist.com/europe/2004/03/18/an-election-bombshell|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the early 2000s, the proportion of [[Immigration to Spain#Currently|Spain's foreign born population]] increased rapidly during its economic boom but then declined due to the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ortiz|first1=Fiona|title=Spain's population falls as immigrants flee crisis|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-population/spains-population-falls-as-immigrants-flee-crisis-idUSBRE93L0J620130422|access-date=2 September 2017|work=Reuters|date=22 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902102026/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-population/spains-population-falls-as-immigrants-flee-crisis-idUSBRE93L0J620130422|archive-date=2 September 2017}}</ref> In 2005, the Spanish government legalised [[Same-sex marriage in Spain|same sex marriage]], becoming the third country worldwide to do so.<ref>{{cite news|title=Spain legalises gay marriage|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/30/gayrights.spain|access-date=19 March 2020|work=The Guardian|date=30 June 2005|archive-date=21 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221223432/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/30/gayrights.spain|url-status=live}}</ref> Decentralisation was supported with much resistance of Constitutional Court and conservative opposition, so did gender politics like quotas or the law against gender violence. Government talks with ETA happened, and the group announced its permanent cease of violence in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tremlett|first1=Giles|title=Basque separatists Eta announce ceasefire|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/05/eta-announces-ceasefire|access-date=19 March 2020|work=The Guardian|date=5 September 2010|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319233632/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/05/eta-announces-ceasefire|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Madrid October15.jpg|thumb|Demonstration against the crisis and high youth unemployment in Madrid, 15 October 2011]]
The bursting of the [[Spanish property bubble]] in 2008 led to the [[2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis]]. High levels of unemployment, cuts in government spending and corruption in [[Royal family]] and [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] served as a backdrop to the [[2011–12 Spanish protests]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Spain's Indignados protest here to stay|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18070246|access-date=19 March 2020|work=BBC News|date=15 May 2012|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319235526/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18070246|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Catalan independentism]] also rose. In 2011, [[Mariano Rajoy]]'s conservative [[People's Party (Spain)|People's Party]] won the election with 44.6% of votes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rajoy ahoy|url=https://www.economist.com/newsbook/2011/11/21/rajoy-ahoy|access-date=19 March 2020|newspaper=The Economist|date=21 November 2011|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319233630/https://www.economist.com/newsbook/2011/11/21/rajoy-ahoy|url-status=live}}</ref> As prime minister, he implemented austerity measures for EU bailout, the EU Stability and Growth Pact.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tremlett|first1=Giles|title=Mariano Rajoy announces €65bn in austerity measures for Spain|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/11/mariano-rajoy-spain-65bn-cuts|access-date=19 March 2020|work=The Guardian|date=11 July 2012|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319233631/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/11/mariano-rajoy-spain-65bn-cuts|url-status=live}}</ref> On 19 June 2014, the monarch, Juan Carlos, abdicated in favour of his son, who became [[Felipe VI]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Spain king: Juan Carlos signs his abdication|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27910104|access-date=19 March 2020|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2014|archive-date=19 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319235805/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27910104|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2017 a [[2017 Catalan independence referendum|Catalan independence referendum]] was held and the [[Catalan parliament]] voted to unilaterally declare [[2017 Catalonia declaration of independence|independence from Spain]] to form a Catalan Republic<ref>{{cite news|last1=Alandete|first1=David|title=Análisis. Is Catalonia independent?|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/10/27/inenglish/1509117264_660083.html|work=[[El País]]|date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028042504/https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/10/27/inenglish/1509117264_660083.html|archive-date=28 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ríos |first1=Pere |last2=Piñol |first2=Àngels |title=El Parlament de Cataluña aprueba la resolución para declarar la independencia|url=https://elpais.com/ccaa/2017/10/27/catalunya/1509105810_557081.html|work=[[El País]]|date=27 October 2017|language=es|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029185252/https://elpais.com/ccaa/2017/10/27/catalunya/1509105810_557081.html|archive-date=29 October 2017}}</ref> on the day the [[Senate of Spain|Spanish Senate]] was discussing approving direct rule over Catalonia as called for by the Spanish Prime Minister.<ref name="BBC-27Oct17-1">{{cite news|date=26 October 2017|title=Catalan crisis: Regional MPs debate Spain takeover bid|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41760832|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026144624/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41760832|archive-date=26 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="BBC-27Oct17-2">{{cite news|date=27 October 2017|title=Catalan crisis: Spain PM Rajoy demands direct rule|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41771294|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029003630/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41771294|archive-date=29 October 2017}}</ref> On the same day the Senate granted the power to impose direct rule and Rajoy dissolved the Catalan parliament and called a new election.<ref>{{cite news|date=27 October 2017|title=Catalonia independence: Rajoy dissolves Catalan parliament|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41783289|work=BBC News|location=Barcelona, Madrid|access-date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028072348/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41783289|archive-date=28 October 2017 }}</ref> No country recognised Catalonia as a separate state.<ref name="EuN_20171027">{{cite news|last1=Sandford|first1=Alasdair|title=Catalonia: what direct rule from Madrid could mean|url=http://www.euronews.com/2017/10/27/catalonia-what-direct-rule-from-madrid-could-mean|access-date=27 October 2017|work=euronews|date=27 October 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027201407/http://www.euronews.com/2017/10/27/catalonia-what-direct-rule-from-madrid-could-mean|archive-date=27 October 2017}}</ref>
[[File:Primera trobada entre el president Illa i l'alcalde Collboni (23-08-2024) - 1.jpg|thumb|[[Salvador Illa]], former minister of Health during COVID-19 pandemic in the first coalition Government in Spain, elected first non independentist Catalan regional president in over a decade, with Barcelona mayor [[Jaume Collboni]].]]

In June 2018, the [[Congress of Deputies]] passed a [[2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy|motion of no-confidence against Rajoy]] and replaced him with the PSOE leader [[Pedro Sánchez (politician)|Pedro Sánchez]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/world/europe/spain-mariano-rajoy-no-confidence.html |title=Spain's Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, Is Ousted in No-Confidence Vote |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 2018 |access-date=18 June 2018 |last1=Minder |first1=Raphael |archive-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619012814/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/world/europe/spain-mariano-rajoy-no-confidence.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2019, the first ever coalicion government in Spain was formed, between PSOE and Unidas Podemos. Between 2018 and 2024, Spain faced an [[2018–2023 Spanish institutional crisis|institutional crisis]] surrounding the mandate of the [[General Council of the Judiciary]] (CGPJ), until finally the mandate got renovated.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Spanish institutional crisis triggered by legal block of judicial reform |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2022/12/20/spanish-institutional-crisis-triggered-by-legal-block-of-judicial-reform/ |access-date=2023-08-04 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |archive-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804144518/https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2022/12/20/spanish-institutional-crisis-triggered-by-legal-block-of-judicial-reform/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In January 2020, the [[COVID-19]] virus was confirmed to have [[COVID-19 pandemic in Spain|spread to Spain]], causing life expectancy to drop by more than a year.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Woolf|first1=Steven H.|last2=Masters|first2=Ryan K.|last3=Aron|first3=Laudan Y.|date=24 June 2021|title=Effect of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 on life expectancy across populations in the USA and other high income countries: simulations of provisional mortality data|journal=BMJ|language=en|volume=373|pages=n1343|doi=10.1136/bmj.n1343|issn=1756-1833|pmid=34162598|pmc=8220857|doi-access=free}}</ref> The European Commission economic recovery package [[Next Generation EU]] were created to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be in use in the period 2021–2026. In March 2021, Spain became the sixth nation in the world to make [[Legality of euthanasia|active euthanasia legal]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Borraz|first=Marta|date=18 March 2021|title=Luz verde definitiva: la ley de eutanasia ya es una realidad en España tras superar su último trámite en el Congreso|url=https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/luz-verde-definitiva-ley-eutanasia-supera-ultimo-tramite-congreso-entrara-vigor-tres-meses_1_7320129.html|access-date=19 March 2021|website=ElDiario.es|language=es|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318233215/https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/luz-verde-definitiva-ley-eutanasia-supera-ultimo-tramite-congreso-entrara-vigor-tres-meses_1_7320129.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the [[2023 Spanish general election|general election on 23 July 2023]], prime minister Pedro Sánchez once again formed a coalition government, this time with [[Sumar (electoral platform)|Sumar]] (successors of [[Unidas Podemos]]).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bayer |first=Lili |date=2023-11-16 |title=Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez wins new term as Spanish PM following election gamble – as it happened |language=en-GB |work=the Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/16/spain-acting-prime-minister-pedro-sanchez-expected-win-backing-for-new-term-europe-latest-updates |access-date=2023-12-07 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207213108/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/16/spain-acting-prime-minister-pedro-sanchez-expected-win-backing-for-new-term-europe-latest-updates |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2024, the first non-independentist Catalan regional president in over a decade, [[Salvador Illa]], was elected, normalising the constitutional and institutional relations between the national and the regional administrations. According to latest polls,<ref name="auto1">{{cite web | url=https://www.newtral.es/sentimiento-catalan-espanol/20240501/ | title=La mitad de los catalanes se siente tan español como catalán, un 8,4% más desde las elecciones de 2012 | date=May 2024 }}</ref> only 17.3% of Catalans feel themselves as "only Catalan". 46% of Catalans would answer "as Spanish as Catalan", while 21.8% "more Catalan than Spanish".<ref name="auto1"/> Accordind to a 2024 poll of University of Barcelona, over 50% of Catalans would vote against independence, while less than 40% would vote in favour.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20230113/encuesta-independencia-catalunya-icps-uab-81112066 | title=El apoyo a la independencia de Catalunya baja del 40%, según una encuesta del ICPS | date=13 January 2023 }}</ref>