This article has been conceived as a part of a larger long-term project that aims to develop a new body of research confronting the significant lack of English scholarship on the field of Spanish contemporary music studies. It presents a brief historical analysis of the situation and development of the Spanish musical avant-garde scene of the 1960s and 70s that is then used as the basis for a critical sociological consideration of the relationship between art/music and politics in the final years of Franco’s dictatorship, with particular regard to the work of Tomás Marco, one of the most significant composers in twentieth century Spain.