國際間對於西班牙轉型正義的探討，多數聚焦西班牙內戰期間以及內戰結束佛朗哥政府成立後違反人權的諸多舉措，及佛朗哥獨裁政權結束後對於獨裁政府不當作為的反應；對於強人獨裁體制崩解後，西國社會輿論或反對勢力都低調採取選擇性遺忘的態度，轉型正義研究者多對此表達訝異不解。然而僅以西班牙內戰與獨裁時期佛朗哥之不當作為，對照後佛朗哥時期西國社會內部的低調消極反應，恐無法解析其中原因，必須從更早的時間點探討造成西國社會長期分裂的原因，同時亦應一併考量長時間社會所累積承載之「恐懼、記憶、厭惡鋌而走險」等國民情感，始能理解西班牙轉型正義過程的全貌。本文作者從近一世紀以來西班牙政治、社會發展的歷史脈絡，試析造成西班牙社會分裂的因素，解釋何以在強人獨裁統治時期終結之後，西班牙會以「選擇遺忘」作為看待處理國內轉型正義議題的模式，以及在進入二十一世紀之際，西班牙透過非正式制度的民間力量，以及正式制度的立法與執行，帶領西班牙的轉型正義工程從「選擇遺忘」邁向「歷史記憶」的新階段。

The majority studies about the transitional justice in Spain focus on initiatives of human rights violations by Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War and Post-Civil war, and the social reaction after the end of the Franco’s dictatorship. Most transitional justice researchers have expressed surprise and more puzzled for the low-key attitude of selective forgetting from Spanish society after the collapse of strongman dictatorship, however, to understand the whole picture of the process of transitional justice in Spain, it is necessary to understand the historical background which cumulated “the fear, memory, and disgust desperate” and the social division from earlier point in time, from the end of 19th century. In this study, the author tried to figure out the reason of the Spanish social division in the past nearly one century by the historical context of Spanish politics and social development. These factors explain why Spanish society chose to forget after the collapse of dictatorship. In the 21st century, the transitional justice in Spain was led by the Spanish civil power through the informal system, as well as legislation and implements a formal legitimacy, from “the selecting Oblivion” towards “the birth of the Law of Historical Memory.”