This paper by Antoni Segura analyses the transition processes unfolding in Arab countries and compares them to the Spanish experience. Very often presented as a model, the Spanish transition to democracy offers some lessons and errors to be taken into account by Southern Mediterranean countries.

The author argues that the Arab countries should not try to strictly follow previous democratisation experiences because each process is based on its own historical, cultural, religious and socioeconomic conditions and on a correlation of political forces that are by nature different in every country.