The twentieth century was a roller coaster for science in Spain. Wars, dictatorship, and the transition to democracy enormously influenced the development—or stagnation—of science and technology in the country.
The Prewar Generation of Scientists
Before the Civil War, Spain had a generation of brilliant scientists beginning to make important contributions in various fields. One outstanding example is Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1906 for his research on the nervous system. Ramón y Cajal pioneered the study of neurons, and his work remains fundamental to modern neuroscience.
Another outstanding figure was Severo Ochoa, a biochemist who also won the Nobel Prize in Medicine, in 1959, for his discoveries in RNA synthesis. However, Ochoa and other scientists of his time were forced to leave Spain because of the Civil War and the subsequent Franco regime.
Science Under Franco: A Missed Opportunity
Original AI-generated illustration; an artistic interpretation, not a documentary photograph.
Francisco Franco’s regime (1939–1975) was a dark period for science in Spain. Although the regime promoted industrial modernization in its later years, science and research suffered under a dictatorship that valued neither critical thought nor innovation. The lack of investment in research and development, combined with political and cultural repression, forced many scientists to emigrate to continue their work. This ‘brain drain’ deprived the country of some of its most promising talents for decades.
Although there were some advances during the dictatorship, such as the creation of institutions like the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in 1939, Spanish science fell behind other European countries and, of course, the United States, which became the epicenter of global scientific and technological research during the second half of the twentieth century.
The Transition and the Democratization of Science
With Franco’s death and the arrival of democracy, Spain began a process of modernization in every aspect of society, including science. During the 1980s, science and technology began receiving more state support, and Spain began integrating into the international scientific community.
Joining the European Economic Community in 1986 was a catalyst for scientific progress, as Spain began receiving funding and participating in European research programs. This was a crucial step in the attempt to catch up scientifically and technologically with Europe’s most advanced countries.