ABSTRACT
The personal nature of Spanish politics, which was quite common in other Latin countries, tended to put personal differences, likes and dislikes above party and national interest. Any understanding of contemporary Spanish politics has to take into account the historical trajectory of this important European country. The consensualism presented throughout the Spanish constitutional settlement contributed to a new political culture, which was to become essential for the organisation of politics after approval of the constitution. The transition to Spanish democratic politics took longer than in most other west European countries. After the transition to democracy between 1975 and 1978, the new Spain is regarded as an important laboratory of democratic politics. Among the emerging democratic political elites, it was the liberals who clearly tried to revive the spirit of the Constitution of Cadiz, which defined that sovereignty resided with the Spanish nation, represented both in the Spanish motherland as well as in the colonies of Latin America.
