Spain History Timeline: Key Dates at a Glance

Use this timeline as a map rather than a complete history. Each date marks a change in power, institutions or identity that helps explain Spain today.

Ancient and medieval Iberia

• 218 BCE: Rome begins its conquest of the Iberian Peninsula during the Second Punic War.
• 409 CE: Suebi, Vandals and Alans enter the peninsula as Roman authority weakens.
• 589: The Visigothic monarchy adopts Catholic Christianity.
• 711: Muslim forces cross the Strait of Gibraltar and rapidly defeat the Visigothic kingdom.
• 756: Abd al-Rahman I establishes the independent Emirate of Córdoba.
• 929: Córdoba becomes a caliphate and a major intellectual and commercial center.
• 1212: Christian kingdoms win a decisive victory at Las Navas de Tolosa.

Monarchy and empire

• 1469: Isabella of Castile marries Ferdinand of Aragon.
• 1492: Granada falls; Columbus reaches the Americas under Castilian sponsorship.
• 1516: Charles I inherits the Spanish crowns and later becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1588: The Spanish Armada fails to achieve its objective against England.
• 1701–1714: The War of the Spanish Succession brings the Bourbon dynasty to the throne.

Modern Spain

• 1808: Napoleon’s intervention begins the Peninsular War.
• 1812: The Cádiz Constitution establishes an influential liberal model.
• 1898: Spain loses Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines after war with the United States.
• 1931: The Second Republic is proclaimed.
• 1936–1939: The Spanish Civil War ends with Franco’s victory.
• 1975: Franco dies and Juan Carlos I becomes king.
• 1978: Voters approve the democratic Constitution.
• 1986: Spain joins the European Economic Community.

Read the essential history of Spain for the connections between these events.