This study investigates if and how grammar instructions and exercises in Spanish textbooks have evolved during the last thirty years. More specifically it focuses on how the grammar is presented (explicit instruction) and on the nature of the exercises (input, production and interaction). The method for investigating these things is firstly an analysis of the explicit instruction, and secondly a quantitative study of the exercises. The number of textbooks analyzed in this study is four and only the chapters that focus on teaching the preterite are included in the analysis. The result shows a tendency towards direct explicit instruction and controlled production practice. However, it also shows some signs that newer perspectives are gaining importance in the textbooks analyzed.