Joaquín Costa on Spain’s Restoration Politics
Joaquín Costa’s Critique of Restoration Spain
This text is an excerpt from the book Oligarchy and Despotism, Agrarian Collectivism and Other Writings by Joaquín Costa. Joaquín Costa, the author, was a prominent member of a school of thought from the early twentieth century called Regenerationism, which challenged the political system of the Restoration and sought “a regeneration of Spain.” Costa was also a leading politician, historian, and jurist from Aragon. One of his favorite slogans was “pantry and school.”
This document, which is a political-social analysis, is designed for Spanish public opinion and especially for people interested in history and political, social, and economic structures.
This text, dated 1901, fits into the Restoration period, a stable period of our history that spans from 1874, restoring the power of the Bourbon monarchy after the First Republic, and ends with the military coup of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923.
The text gives us the keys to analyze the political system of Spain during the Restoration.
Key Elements of the Restoration System
First, Costa points out what he considers the essential elements of the political system of the Restoration: oligarchs, chiefs (caciques), and provincial governors. All three are defined pejoratively and are considered key pieces of the political power of that stage.
Oligarchs: The Powerful Elite
The oligarchs are considered by Costa as the most powerful and enriched figures in the political system. He even calls them “primates.”
Chiefs (Caciques): Local Power Brokers
For their part, the chiefs are distributed throughout Spain and can be of different categories according to their importance.
Provincial Governors: Intermediaries
Last but not least, the provincial governors are political appointees who act as intermediaries between the chiefs and oligarchs.
Corruption and Political Decay
Then, Joaquín Costa uses a figure of speech, personification, to show the deep depression Spain suffers due to its corrupt political system. Later, he emphasizes once more the rampant corruption that pervades our country, seeing in its bosses and oligarchs a “foreign body.”
Electoral Fraud
Finally, the author of this text draws attention to the falsification of elections that the ruling classes conducted, abusing the power they wielded.
Understanding the Restoration System
Indeed, the Restoration was a long and stable period in our history. But this stability was more fictional than real, since it was based on a fraudulent and corrupt political system. The political foundations of this system were created by the politician and historian Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, leader of the Conservative Party. Cánovas intended to imitate and achieve stability similar to the British political system. At the same time, he wanted to prevent military interference in our politics and neutralize political forces he abhorred: Republicans, labor movements, nationalists, and Carlists.
The pillars of this system were the courts, the Constitution of 1876—the longest in our history—turnismo, and chieftaincy (caciquismo). Turnismo implied the peaceful alternation in power of the two bourgeois parties: the Conservatives, led by Cánovas, and the Liberals, led by Sagasta. Through agreements and consensus, with the connivance of the king, “turns” in power were achieved fraudulently. To achieve this alternation, they had the support of the chiefs, provincial governors, and oligarchs.
The chiefs were powerful and enriched figures at the local level (villages and districts) responsible for carrying out voter fraud through constituency pressures or carrying out “rigging” if the final result was not expected. They used to be solicitors, landlords, judges… Their motto was “for the enemies of the law, friends, please.” Their equivalent in the cities were the oligarchs, while prefects guarded the implementation of this system.
Also vital in the Restoration was the role played by the monarchy, although Costa does not mention it. Remember that this stage is so named because the monarchy was restored to power in the person of Alfonso de Borbón (Alfonso XII).
Conclusion: A Bleak Landscape and Search for Solutions
In conclusion, this text by Joaquín Costa reflects a bleak political landscape, characterized by electoral fraud linked to false turnismo and despotism. But Costa was not limited only to raising the deficiencies of the system; he also sought solutions, as evidenced by his regenerationist writings and political work.