The juvenile justice system in Spain has evolved differently than other comparable European countries. The juvenile justice system in Spain emerged at the beginning of the 20th century in accordance with the general movement at that moment in the Western world. Spain missed the educative reform and did not incorporate the responsibility approach until the 1990's. However, things started to change in the mid-1980's. The history of the past century of Spain could be divided into two different parts separated by the Constitution in 1978 in order to explain why and how things began to change. In discussing the past, this article is divided into two parts, the first period (1912 to 1978) and the second period (1978 to 2001). With the enactment of the 1978 Constitution, a period of debate and reflection about the role of the state regarding delinquent children began. However, this debate did not have an effect at the legislative level. The juvenile justice system remained unchanged until 1985. In 1985, an organic law (OL) created the juvenile courts within the rest of the judicial system. Then, OL 4/1992 introduced a flexible and educative approach through the principle of the juvenile’s best interest. The first law in Spain to compile all juvenile justice regulations into a single, complete system was OL 5/2000. Under OL 5/2000, justice for juveniles is to be administered by a separate system within the general legal system with its own specific and specialized court. The future of Spain’s juvenile justice system is dependant upon how the law translates into practice. The system now is challenged to establish community interventions and once in place, experiment with other options. Appendix, figures, and references