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Spain
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LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
[etext transcriber's note: No attempt has been made to correct, normalize or de-anglicize the spelling of Spanish names or words.]
PREFACE.
There is a difficulty in writing a book of this character on Spain, which does not exist, we think, to the same extent with any other European country. In most European nations the official returns and government reports may be accepted as trustworthy, and the compiler has little more to do than to copy them; but in Spain this is far from being always the case. In some instances, from nonchalance and habitual inexactitude, in others, and especially in all matters of finance and taxation, from designed misstatement, all such reports have to be received with caution and scrupulously examined. The reader must remember also that in Spain smuggling and contraband dealing in various forms is carried on to such a vast extent as seriously to vitiate all trade returns. Thus it is that Spanish statistics can be considered only as approximate truths.
Another difficulty arises from the very varied character of the Spanish provinces. Hardly any statement can be made of one province which is not untrue of another. The ordinary descriptions of Spain present only one, or at most two, types, the Castling and Andalusian, and utterly neglect all the rest. The provinces of Spain have been well described as divided into "five Irelands" whose habits and modes of thought, political aspirations, and commercial interests and aptitudes, are often utterly opposed to those of the capital. A brief survey of the whole of Spain is attempted in the following pages.
In a work of this kind one other obvious difficulty is to know what to omit. Some well-worn topics will be found to be absent from these pages. No references are made to the great Peninsular War. This can be easily studied in the admirable pages of Sir W. Napier in English, and of Toreno in Spanish, or in compendiums of these, which again are filtered down in every guide-book. For a like reason Prescott's brilliant works are not alluded to.
For the chapter on Geology and Mining the reader is indebted to one of the most distinguished Associates of the School of Mines, who has been recently engaged in practical geological survey and mapping in Spain.
Much also of the present work is due to private information most kindly furnished by Spanish friends of high position in the literary and political world, and with whom some of the subjects treated have been frequently discussed. To these the author offers his warmest and most grateful thanks.
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Rivers, river basins, and rainfall: Five great rivers 10 Rivers of Galicia and Asturias 11 Basque Provinces 12 Ebro and its tributaries and canals 12 Catalonia, streams of 14 Douro and its tributaries 15 Tagus " " 17 Guadiana " " and lakes 19 Guadalquiver, its tributaries, islands, and marismas 22 Segura and its irrigation 24 Jucar " " 25 Guadalaviar or Turia ib. Lakes and Albuferas 26 Water toponymy 27 Comparative table of principal rivers 28 Mineral springs and Salinas ib.
Peculiar interest of Spanish geology 58 Granite and Silurian rocks ib. Carboniferous formation 59 Secondary formations ib. Upper Cretaceous ib. Eocene tertiary 60 Miocene fresh-water ib. Pliocene ib. Influence of geology on populations ib. Statistics of Spanish geology 61 Volcanoes, recent ib.
Minerals of: Gneiss and crystalline schists 62 Metamorphic rocks ib. Cambrian formation ib. Silurian slates ib. Devonian sandstones ib. Carboniferous series ib. Permian 63 Triassic conglomerates ib. Jurassic limestones and marl ib. Cretaceous formation ib. Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene ib. Production and export of six chief minerals ib. Of argentiferous ore, cobalt, silver ib. Coal 65 Iron of the Bilbao district ib. Locality of principal mines 66 Mining laws 67
Pyrenees, no true boundary of 69 Population of Spain, mixed 70 Iberi, Kelt-Iberi, Basques, and Kelts ib. Foreign races in Spain 73 Visigoths, Arabs, and Moors 75 Toponymy of Spain 76 Language of Spanish Jews 77 Existing dialects ib. Statistics of the Spanish language 78 Characteristics of " " 79 Population of Spain 80 Density of ib. Occupations of 81 Manufacturing and mining Provinces 82 Clergy ib. Distribution of property, great changes in 83 Abolition of Mesta and of feudal privileges ib. Sale of Crown and Church property 84 Actual distribution ib. Characteristics of the various populations 85 Galicians, Asturians, Basques, and Aragonese 86 Catalans, Valencians, and Murcians 86, 87 Andalusians 87 Manchegans, and Castilians 89 Gipsies, Maragatos, Passiegos, Hurdes, Sayagos, &c. 90 Contrabandistas ib.
Present Constitution and Administration of Spain 162 Cortes, Senate, Congress 163 Provincial administration 164 Municipal " ib. Religion 165 Rights of persons, natives and foreigners ib.
Military Administration 166 Army 167 Quality of Spanish soldiery, pronunciamientos, &c. 168
Naval Administration 169 Royal Navy ib. Mercantile Navy ib.
Judicial Administration 169 Legal Procedure 170 Prisons ib. Hospitals and lunatic asylums 171 Railways 172 Telegraphs ib. Letters and post ib.
Finances of Spain.
Public debt 174 Increase of, since 1868 175 Deficit of budgets ib. Sources of revenue 176 Expenditure ib. Imports and exports 177 Foreign tariffs ib. Protection and free trade 178 Empleomania and its results 179
Early Church Councils 188 Roman and Mazarabic liturgy ib. Inquisition ib. Philip II., the Jesuits, and the Reformation 189 Expulsion of the Jesuits 191 Concordat of 1851 ib. Archbishops, bishops, and clergy ib. Mode of appointment of bishops 192 Spanish Protestants ib.
Characteristics of Spanish painting 205 Local schools 206 Murillo 208 Painters of Valencian school 209 " " Castilian " ib. " " Andalusian " ib. Modern painters 210 Industrial arts, goldsmith's work, iron, porcelain, glass, wood, lace 212 Music ib.
Literature.
Early Romances 213 " Prose works 214 La Celistina and the picaresque novels 215 Drama and Autors 216 Lope de Vega ib. Calderon de la Barca 217 Cervantes ib. Quevedo 219 Historical writings 220 Poetry ib. Mystic writers 222 Classical and romantic schools ib. Modern writers: Poets--Espronceda, Zorilla, Becquer, &c. 224 Novelists--Fernan Caballero, J. Valera, &c. ib. Dramatists--Hartzenbusch, Breton de los Herreros, &c. 225 Nunez de Arce 226 Historians--Conde Gayangos, De la Fuente, &c. ib. Geographers--Fernandez Guerra, Coello, Bowles ib. Geologists--Macpherson, &c. ib. Economists--Cardenas, Colmeiro, De Azcarate 227 Theologians--Balmes, Donoso Cortez, C. Gonzalez, &c. ib. Philologists--F. Fita, &c. ib. Orators 228 Provincial literature 229
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