During Spain's transition to democracy in the 1970s and early 1980s, crime was not as much of an issue as the development of a criminal justice system that would protect the rights of the accused and a prison system that would provide humane treatment for inmates. Crimes perpetrated by Basque terrorists occupied the attention of the government and the public. Currently, terrorism and unemployment are more of a concern than nonpolitical forms of crime in Spain. Crime rates in general have been relatively low and stable in Spain over the past decade. Criminology as an enterprise in Spain has become increasingly energetic and dispersed among disciplines while it has become more empirical and institutionalized. In addition to producing scholarly publications, criminologists have also written self-help books designed to help laypersons understand and apply the empirical findings of criminology to enhance their personal safety. Spanish criminology is also student-centered, in that many criminological works are textbooks or comprehensive specialized literature reviews that are useful in an academic setting. In recent years, the "law and order" debate characteristic of other European nations has come to Spain. Small increases in crime have been used by opposition parties as political attacks on the competency of the incumbent party to combat crime. Such political debate is rarely informed by empirical criminological studies. 2 tables and 134 references