In the 1980s, Spain spent about 8 % of its national budget on education. In 1983 education expenditures amounted to only about US$120 per capita, which placed Spain forty-fifth in the world in per capita spending on education, far behind most other countries in Western Europe. In the government's 1988 budget, expenditures on education were scheduled to increase by 18 to 20 % over 1987, to about US$170 per person. Nevertheless, rapid increases in other areas meant that spending on education declined as a proportion of the total budget, to about 6.7%. This level of expenditure was not only too little in an advanced industrial society, but it was also distributed in a way that was skewed toward the expensive private-sector schools.

The golden age of Spanish education occurred during the Middle Ages, when the Moors, Christians, and Jews accomplished strong interreligious centers of higher education in Córdoba, Granada, and Toledo. The University of Salamanca served as a model for the universities of Latin America from the 16th century on, thereby extending the international determine of Spanish education. During the 16th century the University of Alcalá was famous for its multilingual, parallel translations of the Bible. valuable Spanish educators of that time include Juan de Huarte, a pioneer in the application of psychology to education; humanist and philosopher Juan Luis Vives, who interpreted new ideas on education and, in particular, advocated the education of women; and Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. Others who made valuable contributions to education in the 19th and 20th centuries include Francisco Giner de los Rios, who sought reforms in higher education and the schooling of women.