The first Bourbon king of Spain was Philip V. In 1715 this monarch of French origin signed a law that revoked most of the historical privileges of the various kingdoms united under the crown. They were unified under the laws of Castile. Politically and culturally Spain became a follower of France. Under Charles III Spain was governed by the laws of enlightened despotism. As a result a new prosperity came about in the mid-18th Century. Madrid became a truly modern city, and Charles is remembered today as one of Spain's most popular kings. During the American Revolutionary War he managed to regain much of the territory Spain had lost to France in the Seven Years’ War.

Sadly his blaze of glory was extinguished by his son Charles IV, whom some believed to be retarded. His policies overturned many of Charles III's reforms. The son of Charles IV, Fernando VII, led the Mutiny of Aranjuez against him. Meanwhile Charles’ hesitancy on the issue of being a French ally led Napoleon to invade Spain in 1808. The Peninsular War broke out. Under the Bonaparte dynasty Spain was unable to adopt Enlightenment ideals and did not embrace the industrial revolution of the 18th Century, and as a consequence fell behind Germany, France and Britain in political and economic power.

Spain freed itself from French rule during the war of independence in 1814, and Fernando VII acceded to the throne. After a military revolution the king was forced to adopt the constitution. A period of alternating liberal and conservative governments followed; it ended with the coronation of Isabel II in 1830.