Legal and Policy Framework of Artistic Research in Spanish Higher Arts Education

AbstractThis article charts the legal trajectory that has shaped artistic research in Spain’s higher-arts sector from theMoyano Law (1857) to the new Ley 1/2024. It shows how conservatories, historically outside the universitysystem, have sought academic parity through a succession of reforms—LOGSE (1990), LOE (2006), LOMLOE(2020)—and the Bologna Process. Recent legislation now grants degrees labelled Grado and Máster,embeds research competencies in curricula and requires doctoral-level faculty, yet structural asymmetriespersist. Regional implementation lags, research funding remains scarce and entrenched studio-masterpedagogies resist inquiry-based practices. By mapping these tensions, the study offers a framework forunderstanding the partial convergence—and enduring distance—between Spain’s conservatories anduniversities, and it outlines lessons for European policymakers working to integrate practice-basedknowledge within higher-education architectures.