The Local Elites Across Political Regimes (LEaPReg) project addresses a critical gap in the study of political transitions: the role of local-level elites. While legal frameworks can change overnight, de facto political power is often far more resilient. Our research adopts a dual-focus approach to document this phenomenon in 20th-century Spain.

First, we reconstruct the machinery of local power during the Francoist Dictatorship (1939–1976), analyzing how the regime strategically appointed mayors and Falange local chiefs to ensure territorial control. Second, we examine the Transition (1976–1983) to understand why certain elites –from mayors to local councilors– successfully migrated to the new democratic system, the political labels they adopted, and the factors that led voters to validate their stay in power.

To achieve this, LEaPReg employs an innovative methodology that pairs historical research in of archival documentation with state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence tools to digitize and structure historical sources, creating the most comprehensive database on Spanish historical municipal power to date.