Liberal Protectionism in Nineteenth Century Spain: An Alternative Route to Economic Modernization

Volume 47 Issue 1

Author(s):

Nick Sharman - University of Nottingham

Recommended Citation:

Sharman, Nick (2022) “Liberal Protectionism in Nineteenth Century Spain: An Alternative Route to Economic Modernization,” Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies: Vol. 47 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.

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Abstract:

The nineteenth century dispute between the protectionist and free trade movements in Spain divided the country, often bitterly, for nearly a century. Catalan, and later Vizcaya, industrialists fiercely opposed the progressive dismantling of trade protection by a succession of free trade supporting governments. Economic and political historians have traditionally interpreted the conflict as a case of a powerful group of self-interested manufacturers defending their sectoral and regional interests against more advanced foreign products and technologies, especially from Britain. The result, they suggest, was to undermine the economic modernization of the country as it attempted to catch up with the rapidly industrializing economies of northern Europe. This paper argues that the debate is more accurately viewed as an argument between two liberal factions with competing visions about the most effective way to modernize the national economy. On the one hand, free trade supporters, encouraged by an unrelenting British campaign, looked for the strongest possible integration of the country into the new industrial economies of northern Europe, based on Spain’s natural advantages in food and mineral supply. For their part, the liberal protectionists also wanted to see Spain participate in the new dynamic world market, but as a modern industrial competitor rather than as a complementary supplier. The paper argues that both factions were committed to a fundamentally reformed and modernized economy driven by a unified and effective state. Both were strongly patriotic movements, though driven by radically different assumptions about the nature of liberalism and society.

Tags: Free Trade, Nineteenth Century, Protectionism, Spain