This paper provides estimates of productivity growth in Spanish manufacturing at the industry level during the eighties, analyzing simultaneously its determinants, with particular attention to the role played by entry and exit. Spanish manufacturing suffered during this period a sharp competitive presure (before, during and after the 1986 integration in the EEC), and high rates of entry and exit in industries. An equation for the Solow residual including control terms and productivity growth explanatory variables is derived and estimated with GMM techniques, with data on a disaggregation of manufacturing in 75 industries observed during the years 1979-1990. Estimations show an important joint impact in productivity growth of entry, exit, and the competitive presure derived from import penetration. Evidence points out also that exit was caused by the displacement of the less efficient firms by the new entrants.