Currently universities cannot leave out principles of social responsibility in their actions. The theoretical part of the article explores the background of social responsibility of universities (RSU) until current times. The empirical part analyzes if public universities in Spain develop this type of initiatives and how they carry them out. 48 universities were analyzed and the information was obtained by means of a comprehensive analysis of the web pages of the institutions. The results lead to the affirmation that public universities in Spain are channeling the principles of RSU, which are included in most of the cases in the objectives and strategic plans of theses universities.