ECONOMIC, INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL COOPERATION BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: A VECTOR FOR ECONOMIC MODERNISATION AND POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING (1973-1990)

1973 was the year in which Spain and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) normalised diplomatic relations. The new framework meant that trade relations, based on compensations, gave way to a currency system in 1974 and opened the door to economic cooperation. Since then, Spain and the GDR have negotiated different avenues for scientific-technical cooperation, especially after the PSOE's electoral triumph in 1982 and the consequent new framework for bilateral relations. The main objective of the article is to reconstruct these cooperative relations, with special emphasis on political issues but also taking into account the effects on trade. The author's basic conclusion is that this cooperation served as a means of mutual productive modernisation and as a form of political rapprochement, as well as sustaining the commercial fabric after Spain's entry into the European Economic Community and fostering this study.