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The latter years of Franco's rule saw some economic and political liberalization, the so-called Spanish Miracle, including the birth of a tourism industry. Francisco Franco ruled until his death on November 20th 1975 when control was given to King Juan Carlos. In the last few months before Franco's death, the Spanish state went into a paralysis. This was capitalized upon by King Hassan of Morocco, who ordered the 'Green March' into Western Sahara, Spain's last colonial possession.

The first governments of the Republic, were center-left, headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, and Manuel Azaña. In 1933, the right-wing CEDA won power; an armed rising of workers of October 1934, which reached its greatest intensity in Asturias and Catalonia, was forcefully put down by the CEDA government.

On February 20th 2005, Spain became the first country to allow its people to vote on the European Union constitution that was signed in October 2004. The rules states that if any country rejects the constitution then the constitution will be declared void. The final result was very strongly in affirmation of the constitution, making Spain the first and so far only country to approve the constitution via referendum.

After World War II, being one of few surviving fascist regimes in Europe, Spain was politically and economically isolated and was kept out of the United Nations until 1955, when it became strategically important for U.S. president Eisenhower to establish a military presence in the Iberian peninsula. This opening to Spain was aided by Franco's rabid anti-communism.

Terrorism is a problem of present-day Spain, since ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom) is trying to achieve Basque independence through violent means, including bombings and murders. Although Basque Autonomous government does not condone any kind of violence, the different approaches to the problem are a source of tension between Central and Basque governments. Besides ETA violence, the conflict in the Basque Country is also shaped by the non-acceptance on the part of the spanish state of the right of basque people to choose freely their political status. Recently, 2 political parties - which in previous elections had received the support of around 15% of the popular vote- have been banned due to their negative to condemn publicly ETA violence in the terms that the main spanish political parties wanted.

While the siesta — an hours-long mid-afternoon break from work — is generally in decline, the typical rhythm of the day in Spain remains relatively distinct from the European norm. Many shops and some museums (though relatively few other businesses) still split their hours into two distinct periods of opening with a two or three hour break in the middle; a paseo (stroll) in the early evening remains a common custom in many smaller cities and to some extent even in the larger ones; the dinner hour is the latest in Europe, typically about 10 p.m.; nightlife begins accordingly late, with many dance clubs (even in relatively small cities) opening at midnight and staying open until dawn; in Madrid in the summer there is nothing unusual about a live musical performance being scheduled for one or two o'clock in the morning.

Except for the subtropical Canary Islands, Spain can be divided into areas experiencing, respectively, a Mediterranean climate; a climate dominated by the Atlantic Ocean; and (in the inner areas) a rather extreme climate with hotter summers and colder winters than nearer the coasts. The generally warm and relatively dry summers have led to a culture in which a lot of life is lived outdoors, whether on a patio in the courtyard of a building or on a public plaza. In Madrid, many of the most popular nightclubs move for several months in the summer to an outdoor terrasa much farther from the center of town than their indoor winter location, continuing in a way the older tradition of the verbena (fair). In the Mediterranean areas (and in the Canary Islands), outdoor meals can be a nearly year-round phenomenon.

The Complutense University is one of the oldest universities in the world, as well as the largest and (after Salamanca) most prestigious in Spain. It has 10000 staff and a student population of 117 000. It is located on two campuses, in the university quarter Ciudad Universitaria at Moncloa in Madrid, and in Somosaguas.

At present, Spain is a constitutional monarchy, and is comprised of 17 autonomous communities. One of the most important problems facing Spain today is ETA's terrorism - this illegal organization defends Basque independence through violent means, which is condemned by both Central and Basque government, although there is tension between these governments since PNV (the party presently governing Basque Country) longs for greater autonomy from Spain, including the possibility of independence, something Spanish government doesn't accept.

Over the past thirty years, Spain has become a more secularised society. The number of believers has decreased significantly and for those who believe the degree of accordance and practice to their church is quite diverse.

Until 1714, Spain was a loose confederation of kingdoms and statelets, under the same king, until King Philip V removed the autonomous status of the Aragonese crown. Moreover, the creation of a unified state in the 19th and 20th centuries has lead to the present situation, apparently simple, but sometimes extremely confusing. During the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936), the Basque and Catalan were given limited self-government, which was lost after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and restored in 1978 during the transition to democracy.

As recently as the mid-20th-century, much of Spain (especially outside of the major cities) remained quite distinct from the rest of Europe. In 1954, V.S. Pritchett could still write of small Spanish towns, "The inn, if there is one, will not be a hotel, nor even a fonda — the Arab word — but perhaps a posada: a place one can ride into with a mule or a donkey, where one can stable an animal and lie down oneself on a sack of straw, the other side of the stall." [Pritchett, 1954 p. 46-47] However, especially since the 1975 death of Francisco Franco, Spain has become increasingly European; Pritchett's rustic posada would be unimaginable today.