ABSTRACT
Over the last two decades Spain has undertaken an important decentralisation process involving large areas of public sector management. In 1975 (which marked the death of General Franco and the beginning of the democratic transition) central government managed 85.07 per cent of public expenditure, excluding social security. Twenty years later, in 1995, it only managed 58.84 per cent, in spite of having increased the weight of the public expenditure from 16.41 to 28.14 per cent of GDP.1
