The Persistence of the Myth: Europeanism in Spain from the late Francoism to the outbreak of the 2008 Economic Crisis

Europeanism is still stronger in Spain in comparison not only with other Southern European countries that joined European institutions during the second and third enlargement—but today—in comparison with some founding members too. According to the existing literature, the resilience of today’s europeanism is linked to the strong role European integration has played during the democratic transition. This chapter tries to demonstrate to what extent the economic crisis challenges this interpretation. It argues that the persistence of the “European myth” today is proof that the relationship between europeanism and democracy was not monolithic and changed over time. The author investigates the relation between europeanism and democratic values at political level from the latest years of the Franco regime up to the start of the economic crisis in 2008, looking at the so-called pre-transition period (1962–1975), the transition process (1976–1982), the period stretching from the consolidation of democracy to the Maastricht Treaty (1982–1992), and lastly from the Maastricht Treaty to the onset of the economic crisis (1992–2008).