The Spanish miracle ( es, el milagro español) refers to a period of exceptionally rapid development and growth across all major areas of economic activity in Spain during the latter part of the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...

, from 1959 to 1974, in which

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

averaged a 6.5 percent growth rate per year, and was itself part of a much longer period of an above average GDP growth rate from 1951 to 2007. The economic boom came to an end with the 1970s international

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

stagflation In economics, stagflation or recession-inflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high or increasing, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high. It presents a dilemma for economic policy, since actio ...

crises that disrupted the industrialised world although several scholars have argued that "liabilities accumulated during years of frenzied pursuit of economic development" were in fact to blame for the slow economic growth of the late 1970s.

Initiation of boom

The "economic miracle" was initiated by the reforms promoted by the so-called

technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts w ...

who, with

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

's approval, put in place policies developed in Spain. The technocrats, many of whom were members of

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...

, were a new breed of politicians and replaced the old

Falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...

guard.

Industrialization

The rapid economic expansion reinvigorated old industrial areas: the Basque Country and Ferrol northern coast (iron and steel, shipbuilding), and in and around

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(machinery, textiles, cars and petrochemicals). It also drove an enormous expansion in refining, petrochemicals, chemicals and engineering. To help achieve the rapid development, there was massive government investment through key state owned companies like the national industrial conglomerate

Instituto Nacional de Industria Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI, National Institute of Industry) was a Spanish state-owned financing and industrial holding company established in Francoist Spain for the development of industry and social control. It was succeeded by the So ...

, the mass market car company

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

in Barcelona, the big steel plant of Ensidesa in

Avilés Avilés (; ) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged to the sea, ...

and the shipbuilder Empresa Nacional Bazán. With heavy protection from foreign competition in the domestic Spanish market, those companies led the

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

of the country, restoring the prosperity of industrial areas like Barcelona and

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and creating new industrial areas, most notably around

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Although there was economic liberalisation in the period, key enterprises remained under state control.

Automotive industry

The

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...

was one of the most powerful (''locomotives'') of the Spanish Miracle. From 1958 to 1972, it grew at a yearly compound rate of 21.7%. In 1946, there were only 72,000 private cars in Spain, but in 1966, there were over 1 million.J.L. García Ruiz, That growth rate had no equal in the world. The

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The mos ...

of the ''desarrollo'' was the

SEAT 600 The SEAT 600 is a city car made in Spain by SEAT from May 1957 until August 1973 under licence from Fiat. It helped to start the Spanish miracle (economic boom of 1959–1973) that came at the end of the slow recovery from the Spanish Civil War. I ...

car, produced by the Spanish state company SEAT. More than 794,000 of them were made between 1957 and 1973. At the beginning of that period, it was the first car for many Spanish

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

families. However, at the end of the period, it was the second car for many more.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanish Miracle 1950s economic history 1960s economic history 1970s economic history 1950s in Spain 1960s in Spain 1970s in Spain Economic booms Economic history of Spain Francoist Spain Post–World War II economic booms

Initiation of boom

Industrialization

Automotive industry

See also

References