ABSTRACT
In spite of all opening moves on the part of the Franco regime, Spanish foreign policy was not very influential. It was very dependent on the bipolar Cold War division between the Western powers and the Soviet Bloc. Franco presented himself as the prototype of an anti-communist ally, making it possible for Spain to be part of the Western alliance, despite being a dictatorship. The nature of the regime was the major obstacle to a sustainable open foreign policy. The death of the dictator in 1975 allowed for a rethinking of Spanish foreign policy. Between 1975 and 1979, Spanish foreign policy remained undefined due to the fact that the domestic agenda was more important than the international stage. There were only two issues that were of prominent importance in Spanish foreign policy. First, there was the unanimous consensus of the political elite who wanted to achieve accession to the European Community at the earliest possible point in time which led to the application for EU membership in July 1977 by Prime Minister Adolfo Sua´rez, who was still engaged in the constitutional settlement process. Second, a more controversial issue was to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) with which Spain had cooperated during the Francoist regime. The authoritarian government had a defence agreement in place, which was up for renewal by the Francoist dictatorship shortly before it collapsed. The new treaty signed in January 1976 lasted for five years and was up for renewal in 1981.
