The first volunteers in the International Brigade arrive in Spain to fight for the Republican cause in the civil war

The Spanish Civil War causes the Basque designer Cristobal Balenciaga to move his business to Paris, capital of the fashion world

Hungarian photographer Robert Capa achieves an unprecedented immediacy in his coverage of the Spanish Civil War

The Nationalist leader in Spain, Francisco Franco, merges Falange with other right-wing parties to form the Movimento

German planes bomb the Basque capital, Guernica, in support of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War

Pablo Picasso's massive painting Guernica is exhibited in the Spanish pavilion at the World Fair in Paris

In Homage to Catalonia George Orwell describes his experiences fighting for the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War

Madrid falls to the Nationalist forces, bringing the Spanish Civil War to an end and Franco to power

Joaquin Rodrigo's concerto for guitar and orchestra, the Concierto de Aranjuez, has its first performance in Barcelona

Spain and Portugal declare that they will maintain their neutrality in the European war that now seems inevitable

In Christ of St John of the Cross Salvador Dali paints an image of the crucified Christ seeming to fly on his cross

Spanish-born Paris designer Cristóbal Balenciaga produces an ostensibly shapeless garment, the 'sack', that greatly excites the world of fashion

ETA (Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna) is formed in Spain as a guerrilla organization to win Basque independence

20-year-old Spanish tenor Placido Domingo sings his first major role, as Alfredo in La Traviata in the Mexican city of Monterrey

Moise Tshombe's rebel regime in Katanga crumbles, and he flees to Spain

Luis Buñuel directs Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour, a film about a bored housewife who takes a day job as a prostitute

95-year-old Spanish cellist Pablo Casals conducts in New York his Hymn to the United Nations

Spanish director Luis Buñuel satirizes social conventions in his film Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Franco dies and is succeeded as Spanish head of state by Juan Carlos, heir to the Bourbon throne

19-year-old Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros ends the year as number one in Europe

Rebels storm the Spanish parliament in Madrid and briefly hold the members hostage, in a military coup that fails

Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona is sold to Barcelona for a new record fee of £5 million, almost double the highest previous figure

Frank Gehry wins world-wide attention with his design for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

Bombs explode simultaneously on several commuter trains in Madrid during the morning rush hour, killing 190 people

The terrorist organization ETA declares what it says will be a permanent ceasefire in its campaign for Basque independence