Spanish miracle

The Spanish miracle (Spanish: El Milagro español, literally "The Spanish Miracle") was the name given to a broadly based economic boom in Spain from 1959 to 1974. It was brought to an end by the international oil and stagflation crises of the 1970s.

The 19th century in Spain was marked by political instability and war that continually disrupted economic development, leaving Spain lagging far behind the leading European countries and their economies. The period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was one of relative stability during which there was considerable economic development. Political instability returned in the 1920s, which was made worse by the Great Depression, culminating in the devastating Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The war was won by fascist right coup perpetrator forces led by Francisco Franco, who was installed as dictator. Cut off from trade by both the Eastern and the Western Bloc, Franco's regime pursued a policy of autarky. Steps were taken to help modernise the country by government investment in critical infrastructure and industry. Examples of this include the launching of the Spain's modern national highway system, with construction beginning in Catalonia in 1948 and the modernization and expansion of the Port of Barcelona in 1948. In 1949, the regime initiated the construction of Spain's first mass car producer, SEAT, also in Barcelona. But cut off from external trade by boycotts and under a policy of autarky, the country could only make a very slow recovery and was poverty stricken in the two decades after the war. Industrial production did not regain its 1936 level until 1955, and the crucial agricultural sector took until 1959 to recover. The re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the USA and its allies in the mid 1950s led to some easing of Spain's economic difficulties.

The "economic miracle" was initiated by the reforms promoted by the so-called technocrats who, with Franco's approval, put in place policies developed in Spain. The technocrats, many of whom were members of Opus Dei, were a new breed of politicians who replaced the old falangist guard. The implementation of these policies took the form of development plans (Spanish: Planes de desarrollo) and it was largely a success: Spain enjoyed the second highest growth rate in the world, only slightly behind Japan, and became the ninth largest economy in the world, just after Canada. Spain joined the industrialised world, leaving behind the poverty and endemic underdevelopment it had experienced following the loss of most of its imperium in the 1820s.

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