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The war against Napoleon, who came to Spain to place his brother on the throne in Madrid (The Spanish War of Independence map, also known as Peninsular War), brought the emergence of the first Constitution of Spain, in a besieged, progressive and liberal Cádiz. It also led to the appearance of guerrillas (a term that was made universal) against the French invader, in favour either of the absolutist king or of the liberals. The guerrillas from one side or the other continued until the mid-twenties, according to the ruling ideology. In the thirties, Infante Don Carlos, who supported a monarchy that was absolutist, foralista and with a male sucession line, refused to accept his niece Isabella as the Queen. His reluctance was even increased because she was beign supported by de liberals. He proclaimed himself King (Charles V). A long and cruel seven years war started (The Great Carlist War map). The Convention of Bergara that ended it, started a liberal and two-party monarchy in Spain. There would be two other Carlist wars, in 1846-1849 and 1872-1876, and many attempts in 1855, 1860, 1869 and 1870.

In 1853 the prohibition of emigrating to America was lifted (Emigration in the 19th Century map). Cuba, still Spanish, attracted the Catalan emigration. Later on, the emigration was directed to Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Between 1853 and 1882, there was a high Galician emigration rate (325,000, 60% of the total), and afterwards of Canarians, Asturians and Basques. The population of the Mediterranean and Balearic coastline headed for Morocco or Algeria (about 114,000, most of all, to Oran) and of the Northeast Peninsula to Europe.

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The execution of the Mendizábal confiscation decrees was paralysed during the moderate decade (1844-1854, Narváez government). However, Pascual Madoz, Treasury Minister during the progressive biennium (1855-1856, government of Espartero), reactivated them with more intensity: he applied them not only for the confiscation of church property, such as in the first confiscation, but also for the communal properties from the municipalities and the ones from the State itself (Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Madoz map). They were aimed at financing railway works, promoting agrarian production and modernising the countryside.

In general, the peasants were unable to buy the confiscated land, which fell into the hands of, either the former owners (through figureheads) or the wealthy urban bourgeoisie, transformed into the landlord's bourgeoisie. On the other hand, many municipalities remained without rents and had to increase the tax burden. It is relevant to point out that provincial museums were created with the works of art, and monastic libraries were transferred to the newly created provincial secondary schools and to some universities.

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At the end of the 19th century, 70% of the national production of iron was located in the Basque Country, so Spain became the main iron supplier for the rest of Europe. There was a huge increase in production from 43,000 tons of iron ingots, 37,000 tons of soft iron and steel, which were produced in 1868, to 310,000 and 190,000 tons, respectively manufactured in 1900.

The iron exploitation was important for the railway expansion. The benefits from the Madoz confiscation decrees and a series of laws that promoted its financing, such as the Ley General de Ferrocarriles de 1855 (General Railway Act), which attracted foreign capital, contributed to it (French capital in the Northern rails and British in the Sourthern ones). The first railway in the Iberian Peninsula was the Barcelona-Mataró line in 1848, followed by the Madrid-Aranjuez one in 1851. In 10 years (1856-1866) 460 km were built per year, reaching 5,000 km. In a second 23-year-stage, (1873-1896) it reached 12,000 km. The 20th century started with 15,000-km-railway lines, some of which were international: Madrid-Lisbon (1881) and Lisbon-Madrid-Paris (1887).

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The social issues also remained unresolved. In 1916 there were 237 strikes; in 1920 more than 1,000. The repression of the 1917 Spanish general strike (Strikes and Social Conflicts map) left dozens of deaths and thousands arrested.

Under the Primo de Rivera dictatorship there was a decrease in conflict due to the big public works and the collaboration of the General Union of Workers (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT). But the situation blew up again in 1929. The National Confederation of Labour (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, CNT) reached 700,000 affiliates during that year, and in the first years of the Republic, the UGT doubled that number. In Andalusia the peasants alliances exceeded 100,000 affiliates on the strike of 1934, wich anticipated the general revolutionary strike (Affiliation to National Confederation of Labour and Affiliation to the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party maps).

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In its first years, given its international isolation, the dictatorship tried to govern autarchically and with the expected territorial actions: great public works without the possibility of resistance from those affected (entire villages were moved), such as the construction of more than 500 dams. In the meantime, land plots concentration plans, colonisation of new villages, and construction of grain storage networks (the silos), were promoted while the great property remained untouchable.The project known as Plan Badajoz was relevant, with thousands of people being resettled.

From 1959 onwards, (the isolation had already stopped due to the cold war), technocratic programs were implemented (the Development Plans) with industrial parks and estates throughout the country. Undoubtedly there was economic progress, urban middle classes were created in large numbers and the active agrarian population decreased by 10% due to emigration to industrial areas. Spain was considered the tenth world economic power for a few years. But in 1975 nobody wanted to continue with a dictatorship and the country returned to a democratic system.

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