The article intends to review the discussions on education in three moments of the Spanish constitutional history: 1812, 1931, and 1978. Based on the analysis of the records of the parliamentary debates in each constitutional process, it comes to the conclusion that in 1812, and in 1978, a consensus was attained by the main political forces present in Parliament, whereas in 1931 a very important sector of Parliament, and of Spanish society (roman catholic) was excluded from the main decisions regarding education. Anyway, it must be remembered the importance of these debates in the different constitutional processes, even if the discussions sometimes appear as being not very deep. The main conclusion is that solutions adopted by the consensual method have been more durable than those imposed, and the lesson which was learned in 1978 is that it was necessary to combine recognition of the right to education of everybody, and freedom of education, as the basic principles of the regulation of educative matters.
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