8. Liberalism and Democracy in Contemporary Spain

This chapter enquires into the development of liberalism and democracy in contemporary Spain. It seeks to present current challenges to the constitutional state. First, it presents the main features of constitutional liberalism during the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Second, it explores the Portuguese, the Greek, and the Spanish transitions to democracy to appraise their most salient aspects, essential to understand the foundations of their liberal democracies. Third, the chapter digs into the influence of the Council of Europe and the European Economic Community, later named as European Union, on Spanish democracy. Fourth, it distinguishes some remarkable consequences of the economic crisis of 2008 for Spanish democracy: the inrush of widespread populist rhetoric and the questioning of political and social pluralism in favour of partisans understandings of democracy.