The main aim of this article is to examine the history of radio in Spain using a cultural industries approach, in order to analyse how the social and economic context and the various communication policies (or lack of them) have contributed to making the Spanish radio system what it is today. Through this approach, a greater understanding will be reached of its past and present business model, the agents involved and the market structure supporting it. Spanish radio is highly regulated at the national level, which is why the study of communication policies is a fundamental – but not the only – pillar of the theoretical tradition under consideration.