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The Spanish Miracle or Desarrollo was the name given to the Spanish economic boom between 1959 and 1973. The boom was bolstered by economic reforms promoted by the so-called technocrats, accepted by General Francisco Franco, who put in place development policies from the IMF. The technocrats were a new breed of politicians linked to Opus Dei, who replaced the old falangist guard.

The implementation of these policies in the form of development plans (planes de Desarrollo) was largely a success: Spain enjoyed the second world highest growth rate just after Japan and became the ninth largest economy in the world, just after Canada, and the country left behind two centuries of poverty and endemic underdevelopment since the loss of Spanish Empire at the beginning of 19th century.

The recovery was heavily based on public investment on infrastructures and the opening of Spain as a tourist destination. The Miracle ended the period of autarchy (closed economy) and could be considered to be the response to the economic crisis of Spain after the Spanish Civil War and the challenges of World War II. The economic growth saw noticeable improvements in Spanish living standards and the development of a middle class in Spain, though Spain remained less economically advanced relative to the rest of Western Europe (with the exception of Portugal and Ireland). At the heyday of the Miracle, 1974, Spanish income per capita was 79% of the western European average, only to be reached again 25 years later, in 1999.

The recovery led to an increase in (often unplanned) building on the periphery of the main Spanish cities to accommodate the new class of industrial workers brought by rural exodus much similar to the French banlieue.

The icon of the Desarrollo was the SEAT 600, the first car for many Spanish families, produced by the Spanish SEAT under FIAT licence.

• Francoist Spain