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After debating about the renewed interest of economist in the study of inequality, and advancing different reasons that justify such interest in the study of inequality, this paper reviews the evolution of income inequality in Spain in the context of the European Union. In order to do so, we study both the level of market inequality as well as the level of final or disposable income inequality, resulting from the intervention of the Public Sector through tax and transfer policies. From the comparison of market and disposable income inequality a first conclusion is obtained: what we could call the "differential fact" of income inequality in Spain, among the largest in the EU, results not from having a market leading to more unequal results in terms of income, but from the weaker compensating actions carried out by the Public Sector aiming at the reduction of inequality. To conclude, the paper studies the impact of the Great Recession on Income inequality, exploring the different reasons that might be behind its significant increase during the 2008-2013 recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]