Spain's 19th-Century Modernization and Industrialization (1833–1923)

INTRODUCTION: During the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, Spain experienced a long period of modernization under the ideological framework of political and economic liberalism. In the Spanish case, the changes in the process of agricultural, industrial and commercial renewal were slow compared with the more advanced countries of our European surroundings (D1). This reflects the weakness of the bourgeoisie, the brevity of progressive governments, as well as the persistence of a traditional mentality seeking state protectionism.

CORE: Liberal legislation and the promotion of transport routes aimed at creating an integrated market. Особое внимание заслуживает railway (D.2): the Regulation of 1844, the General Law of 1855 and the General Plan of 1877 defined territorially a radial and centralizing model (General Law of Roads, 1855). During the policy of total freedom of the domestic market, commercial policies toward international markets oscillated between free trade and protectionism. As a consequence, Spanish tariff liberalization was established in 1841–1869, while commercial policy was protectionist in 1849–1877 over longer periods. Historiographically, this Spanish economic protectionism is valued differently by economists and historians: for some (Tamames), high tariffs enabled industrialization; for others (Tortella), it strengthened the transformative social groups and contributed to the backwardness of the economic system, visible in its business weakness. The Spanish industrial process (1836–1923) shows as its most characteristic features financial dependence on foreign capital, the strong predominance of mining activities, tariff protectionism and a marked territorial imbalance, as well as a scarcity of raw materials. The textile sector (D.4) and steel industry (D.3) were the most relevant branches. The decades of the 1830s–1870s, characterized by moderate growth, saw agrarian reform and the formation of a national market. Between 1870 and 1890 there was stagnation. Between 1890 and 1920, supported by growing state protectionism as the "nationalist path of Spanish capitalism", the Spanish economy experienced growth, which accelerated in the first years of the First World War.

CONCLUSION: The Spanish industrializing effort was very temperate, but its progress was inferior to that of the most advanced countries (D.5).