Abstract
The case of Spain has attracted very little attention from academics and experts in the
area of social policy, perhaps because it was under Franco's rule for a period of nearly
40 years. This Working Paper analyses succinctly the process of building a welfare
system in Spain during the 20th century stressing general differences and similarities
with respect to other advanced industrial countries.
At present, Spanish welfare development appears as a via media between both
'corporatist-continental' and Anglo-Saxon 'liberal' models. It also incorporates some
socialdemocratic inputs as reference tokens. However, the most relevant aspect
concerning future trends is that associated with the deepening of regional and local
decentralisation both at the level of planning and policy implementation.