Spanish Disentailment: Mendizábal, Espartero, and Madoz Reforms

Mendizábal's Disentailment (1836)

Objectives of the Secularization

• Reduce national debt, which had increased significantly due to the Carlist War.
• Create a new class of property owners interested in supporting the liberal political regime.
• Ensure poorly exploited lands were acquired by entrepreneurs to increase agricultural production.

Disentailed Goods (Ecclesiastical Confiscation)

The decree of 1836 mandated the abolition of religious orders of both sexes (the regular clergy). This measure, driven by progressive liberalism, dismantled the economic power of the Church.

Method of Sale and Payment

The sale of disentailed assets was conducted via public auction following an official appraisal. Two primary payment procedures were established:

• Public Debt: Payment within a period of 8 years.
• Cash: Payment within 16 years.

Situations of abuse occurred, with some buyers securing assets at valuations far below their true market value. The primary beneficiaries were the wealthy bourgeoisie, as peasants lacked the necessary capital to participate in the purchases.

Espartero's Disentailment

This process involved the confiscation of property belonging to the secular clergy, thereby completing the ecclesiastical disentailment initiated by Mendizábal concerning the regular clergy. During the three years this law was in effect, significant clerical properties were sold. However, when the Moderates came to power in 1843, they halted these sales.

Pascual Madoz's Disentailment (1855)

The context for Madoz's disentailment, enacted on May 1, 1855, differed significantly from 1836; there was no ongoing civil war, and budgets were more stable.

Key Objectives

• Raise capital for national industrialization.
• Fund the crucial expansion of the Spanish railway network.

Disentailed Goods (General Confiscation)

Madoz's law constituted a general confiscation, encompassing both civil and religious domains. It put up for sale virtually all collectively owned property, including assets belonging to:

• The clergy (remaining properties)
• The State
• Municipalities (communal lands)
• Other minor "dead hands" institutions.

Method of Sale and Impact

The method of sale and payment mirrored that used during Mendizábal's confiscation. The bourgeoisie remained the primary beneficiary, although there was some limited participation from local towns (pueblos).

This law was initially suspended by the government of Narváez but was later restored when O'Donnell returned to power, though subsequent restorations often excluded remaining church property.