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This article investigates if a party system change has taken place in Spain from June 1977 to January 2019 . The operationalization of Smith's (1989) definition of party system change requires the distinction between "normal" and "unusual" values of the indicators, which are subject to constant fluctuations . This distinction was achieved by defining unusual values as values that fall outside the area of plus/minus one standard deviation around the mean of the respective indicator . If an indicator's values are unusual several times in a row, Smith considered it to have undergone change . The distinction between limited and general change as well as a party system transformation depends on how many indicators measure the properties of different party groups that undergo change . The results show that the Spanish party system underwent a series of limited changes from 1977 to 2015 . Despite the following massive shifts in the distribution of seats and the increases in format, this period can only be qualified as one of (weak) general change, but not of party system transformation .