Revisionism is a term which emerged in the late 1990s and is applied to a group of historiographic theories related to the recent history of Spain. They are supposedly held together by posing a challenge to what is presented as a generally accepted, orthodox view on the history of the Second Republic and the Civil War. The term is used as stigmatization or abuse, and in usage it is paired with charges of incompetence at best or ill will at worst. Historians named revisionists reject the label and claim that no orthodox, canonical view of the recent past exists. Both groups blame each other for pursuing a hidden political agenda; those dubbed revisionists are branded conservatives or post-Francoists, their opponents are branded progressists and left-wingers.

The Real Academia de la Historia is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the different branches of life, of civilisation, and of the culture of the Spanish people". Spanish people in this regard are understood to be citizens of the Kingdom of Spain or the indigenous people of its predecessors, or their descendants. The academy was established by royal decree of Philip V of Spain on 18 April 1738.