ABSTRACT
However, the difference between Spain and her neighbours as regards the debate on the welfare state was not only one of priorities but of objectives. While western European countries had entered the 1970s with powerful, comprehensive welfare states, Spain was emerging from the Franco regime with a far less well-developed public system of social protection. Economic benefits were provided for fewer members of the population and they were less generous, while social services were either ineffective or non-existent, as well as being somewhat discredited. In 1975, public social expenditure came to a little more than 13 per cent of GDP, while average spending in the European Community was around 24 per cent.
