Spain

27-December-1978 : The Spanish Constitution is approved in a referendum, officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.
12-July-1979 : A fire at a hotel in Saragossa, Spain leaves 72 dead. Worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.
10-April-1980 : Spain and the United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
10-December-1981 : During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signes the Protocol of Accession to NATO.
30-May-1982 : Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the 1st nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
11-July-1982 : Italy beats West Germany 331 to win the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain.
20-July-1985 : The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon ''Nuestra Senora de Atocha'' (which sank in 1622) is found 40 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who begin to excavate $400 million in coins and silver.
01-January-1986 : The 1985 Brixton race riots are sparked with the shooting of Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce by the Metropolitan Police in Brixton&Com Spain and Portugal enter the ''European Community'', which later becomes the European Union.
16-May-1986 : The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
05-February-1990 : Manuel Fraga becomes the president of Galicia, Spain.