Several equations were employed to estimate global solar radiation from sunshine hours for 16 meteorological stations in Spain, using only the relative duration of sunshine. These equations included the original Angstrom-Prescott linear regression and modified functions (quadratic, third degree, logarithmic and exponential functions). Estimated values were compared with measured values in terms of the coefficient of determination, standard error of the estimate and mean absolute error. All the models fitted the data adequately and can be used to estimate global solar radiation from sunshine hours. This study finds that the third degree models performed better than the other models, but the linear model is preferred due to its greater simplicity and wider application. It is also found that seasonal partitioning does not significantly improve the estimation of global radiation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.