Spain's non-intervention in World War II distanced it from the plans for European recovery and held it in a situation of complete isolation. During the immediate post-Civil War period, internal efforts were directed towards the reconstruction of the country, especially of buildings and means of transportation, at the same time that a policy of rationing was instituted to attend to the minimun necessities for subsistence.

After the Civil War, then, Spain adopted an inward-looking development model, known as autarky, through the closing of its frontiers to the entry of goods and services and foreign capital. This concept of economic policy was conditioned by the following points: Spain had not participated in the Second World War, it had a certain political affiny with the defeated nations, and thus was subjected to political isolation. However, the design of economic policy was based on the conviction that the Spanish economy had the resources to produce enough, without depending on other countries, to satisfy all society's needs while achieving economic development.

This protectionism was accompained by strong state intervention, both in the process of fixing prices and interest rates and State participation in industry through the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) as a public holding company, which assumed the responsibility for industrial development.

Such economic policy was bound to fail because the Spanish economy did not have sufficient raw materials or technology, and its size prevented it from developing businesses large enough to be competitive and capable of exporting and generating sufficient capital to import all the necessary items for the growth of the Spanish economy. This called for a radical change of strategy which was spelled out in the Stabilization Plan of 1959.