Research for this monograph finished in 1980. The democratic Spain of today is radically different from the authoritarian Spain I knew well during the late 1960s and 1970s. As a member of both the European Economic Community and NATO, the country has regained her place in Europe's mainstream. The extravagant centralization of the Franco years has been replaced by a comprehensive devolution of political power to Spain's regions. The Spanish state has become an estado de los autonomías. Reflecting these major political achievements, the principle problems the country now faces tend to be economic – Spain has Europe's highest rate of unemployment – not political. But there is at least one exception: the Basque country.

The Basque country now has its own police force, schools and, critically, is the only region in Spain empowered to raise its own taxes. Since the first elections to the autonomous Basque parliament in 1980, Basque nationalists have gained majority control over all political institutions – local, provincial and national – of the Basque country. In 1984, the PNV gained control of the Basque government, the three provincial governments and 85 % of all local authorities, including those of the three provincial capitals.