Spain's Progressive Era: Reforms and Political Upheaval (1833-1843)

The Rise of Progressivism in 19th-Century Spain

The Progressives drew their strength from a powerful popular movement, exerting significant influence on the militia and revolutionary juntas. This period saw progressive urban riots erupt in cities like Andalucía, Barcelona, and Madrid. Amidst this unrest, María Cristina was compelled to form a progressive government. Mendizábal initiated a reform program, but it faltered, leading to his dismissal when progressive sectors, following the uprising of the La Granja garrison, demanded a liberal economic regime. Consequently, María Cristina decided to call liberals to power and restore the Constitution of Cádiz.

Key Progressive Reforms Under Mendizábal

Under the leadership of Mendizábal, the Progressives embarked on the crucial task of dismantling the institutions of the Old Regime and establishing a liberal constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system. Their actions were fundamental to the legal conception of property rights, particularly addressing land reform.

The dissolution of the señorial regime, initiated in the Cádiz Cortes, meant that lords lost their jurisdictional powers but retained ownership of lands that the peasantry could not prove as their own. Consequently, peasants lost their traditional rights and became simple arrendatarios (tenants) or laborers. Later, lands from entailed estates (bienes vinculados) were released, allowing their owners to sell them freely.

Desamortización (disentailment) was employed as a primary means for the state to acquire resources through the sale of church lands. Mendizábal decreed the dissolution of religious orders and the seizure of assets belonging to the affected communities, aiming to secure funds to combat Carlism. A series of legislative measures designed to foster free market operation completed this economic liberalization, marking the advent of economic liberalism in Spain.

The Spanish Constitution of 1837

The progressive government convened extraordinary Cortes, which approved a new Constitution. This document represented an acceptance of doctrinaire liberalism, upholding national sovereignty and including an extensive declaration of citizens' rights. However, a second chamber with a conservative character was introduced, granting greater powers to the Crown. The electoral system was based on a census and was highly restricted.

Crisis of Liberalism: Espartero's Regency

Following the 1836 elections, the Moderates began to occupy the government, attempting to discredit progressive elements. They prepared a law that would grant the Crown the power to appoint mayors in provincial capitals. With strong support from Regent María Cristina, the Moderates' confrontational politics alienated the Progressives and the Crown. An insurrectionary movement arose, leading to María Cristina's resignation.

Espartero assumed the regency but proved unable to cooperate with the Cortes and became increasingly isolated. He approved a tariff on the cotton industry, which provoked a significant uprising in Barcelona. Espartero responded by ordering the city shelled. A conspiracy against him ensued, forcing him into exile in England. The Cortes subsequently decided to proclaim Queen Isabella II at the young age of 13.