Timeline / 1860 to After 1930 / SPAIN

Date Country Theme

1860 Spain Fine And Applied Arts

The Manises pottery begins to produce objects in lustreware.

1863 Spain Fine And Applied Arts

The painters Mariano Fortuny y Marsal and Francisco Lameyer travel to North Africa. Fortuny buys different artworks and textiles for his collection.

1866 Spain Economy And Trade

Financial crisis during the last years of Queen Isabel II's government because of public investments in the construction of the railway.

1867 Spain Rediscovering The Past

Foundation of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in following the European movement to create national museums holding the remains of a country's past in tandem with the development of archaeology as a discipline. The museum covers prehistory to modern times, and from its opening in 1871 Spanish Moorish objects are displayed in its Medieval galleries.

1868 Spain Political Context

Carlist wars, economic crisis (1866–68) and disgruntlement with Queen Isabel II and the government explode in the September revolution known as La Gloriosa. The revolution is followed by six years of democratic government under Amadeo I, from the Italian Saboya family, (1870–73) and then under the first Spanish Republic (1873–74), causing the 3rd Carlist war.

1868 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

The “Generation of ‘68” writers begin to publish after the 1868 revolution; the group is named by one of its members, Leopoldo Alas, known as Clarín. Their characteristics are middle-class consciousness and a realist style. Authors in this group include Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, José María Pereda, Benito Pérez Galdós and Emilia Pardo Bazán.

1871 Spain Rediscovering The Past

Voyage of the frigate to the Near East. The ship was commissioned by the Spanish government to travel to the Near East with Spanish archaeologists and curators to document ancient monuments and buy antiquities. It sailed from Naples to Greece, Istanbul, Rhodes, Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt and brought back drawings, notes and artworks to be kept in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional of Madrid.

1871 - 1896 Spain Cities And Urban Spaces Date Country Theme

By the end of the 19th century tram lines have increased in cities. Madrid has horse-drawn trams from 1871 and Barcelona from 1872 but the first city with an electric tram is Bilbao in 1896, followed by Cartagena.

1873 Spain Economy And Trade

Development of the Minas de Riotinto (Huelva, Andalucía). Bought by a British company, the mines bring important economic progress to this region. The dangerous chemicals used in metal extraction spark the first environmental protest by mine workers. (The first fooball match took place in this mine, thanks to the British engineers.)

1874 - 1885 Spain Political Context

Restoration of the monarchy. A military uprising under General Martínez Campos in Sagunto against the Republic returns the throne to the Bourbon Dynasty, with Alfonso XII (son of Isabel II) as King.

1876 Spain Reforms And Social Changes

Following the curtailment of academic freedom in the university, a group of professors expelled from Madrid University introduces in Spain a new education system under the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Free Institution for Education), a secular private project that would modernise all levels of the education system between 1876 and 1936. This initiative was to have an important impact on some of the most important Spanish intellectuals.

1879 Spain Rediscovering The Past

Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and his daughter discover the cave paintings of Altamira. De Sautuola and Juan Vilanova y Piera in an 1880 publication identify them as Palaeolithic, meeting scepticism and ridicule until the discovery of similar paintings elsewhere results in recognition of their findings in 1902. Famous for drawings and polychrome paintings of animals and human hands the cave is now a national museum and World Heritage site.

1879 - 1888 Spain Reforms And Social Changes

Pablo Iglesias founds the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE – Spanish Socialist Party) in 1879; under his leadership the socialists institute the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT – General Workers' Union) in 1888, with liberals in power. At the same time the anarchist movement creates associations that later will become trade unions.

1880 - 1910 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

The emergence of musical nationalism. Various musicians and composers, such as Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Manuel de Falla, develop musical styles identified with Spanish traditions and folklore, including flamenco.

1880s onwards Spain Travelling

Travelling to North Africa, Egypt or the Turkish Empire becomes part of the leisure travels of wealthy families of Spain. Date Country Theme

1881 Spain Fine And Applied Arts

Birth of Pablo Picasso in Málaga. In Spain Picasso’s birth date would be established as the boundary between works of art in the Academic style and the avant-garde style.

1882 Spain Cities And Urban Spaces

Madrid has two "extensions": the first had been designed by the Marquis of in 1860; the second, in 1882, is a modern design by Arturo Soria known as “” (linear city), a plan for an elongated urban formation. The city will consist of a series of functionally specialised parallel sectors.

1883 - 1926 Spain Cities And Urban Spaces

Construction of Antonio Gaudí’s buildings related to Ildefonso Cerdá's Plan and the new urban space in Barcelona. Gaudí is the most important of the architects in the Catalan Modernismo/Modernisme movement, which relates to European movements such as Jungendstil and Art Nouveau. Inspired by nature, the style is mostly developed in architecture but also found in painting and decorative arts.

1885 Spain Political Context

Death of King Alfonso XII. Alfonso XIII born posthumously. Pacto de : agreement between liberals and conservatives to rule the country by turns. Regency of Queen María Cristina until 1902 when King Alfonso XIII comes of age.

1888 Spain Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Building of a submarine (aparato de profundidades) designed by a naval officer, Isaac Peral. The boat (22 x 2.87 metres) is driven by electric engines and has a periscope and three torpedos. In spite of a successful test, the Spanish Navy decides not to put the prototype into production.

1888 Spain International Exhibitions

The Barcelona Universal Exhibition held in the Parc de la Ciutadella from April to December attracts exhibitors from 22 countries and more than two million visitors. The park displays monuments in the Modernismo/Modernisme and Neo-Mudéjar styles.

1890 - 1920 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

“Alhambrismo” in music. From 1890 many composers produce pieces showing the influence of the Alhambra, e.g.Chapi's Los Gnomos de la Alhambra (1889), Debussy’s Lindaraja (composed in 1901) and La puerta del vino (1912–13). The most important piece is the first movement of Noches en los Jardines de España (1909–15) by Manuel de Falla, titled "En los Jardines del Generalife".

1890 Spain Reforms And Social Changes

Suffrage established for men aged 25 years and above. Although the 1812 Constitution had theoretically established “universal” suffrage for men, during most of the 19th century it had been limited to men above a certain economic level. It Date Country Theme was not until 1931, under the Second Republic, that the suffrage became truly universal, including women.

1892 Spain International Exhibitions

European and American Historical Exhibitions held in the Palacio de la Biblioteca y Museos Nacionales, Madrid, celebrating the fourth centennial of the discovery of America.

1898 Spain Reforms And Social Changes

The lost of the last overseas territories causes a big crisis. It is the moment for important writers and intellectuals such as Unamuno and Joaquin Costa, all members of what is called "Generación del ‘98” (Generation of ’98) to analyse the reasons for the crisis and look critically at Spain's past and its future.

1904 - 1912 Spain Political Context

After the loss of its last colonies, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, Spain focuses on North Africa in the framework of the colonial interests of other European powers such as France, the UK and Germany. After different international talks and agreements – Spanish–French Agreement (1904), Algeciras Conference (1906), Cartagena Declarations (1907) – Spain and France sign in November 1912 the Treaty establishing the French and Spanish Protectorates in Morocco.

1907 Spain International Exhibitions

Colonial Exhibition in Paris. After the success of the first international exhibition known as the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, international exhibitions become more specialised as colonial exhibitions from 1866. These exhibitions, held in European cities until 1948, depict life in the colonial territories.

1907 Spain Reforms And Social Changes

Creation of the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE) (Board for Advanced Studies and Research), a public institution founded to provide scholarships for Spanish university students to attend European universities. Intended to promote contact with European culture and science, this public programme created a basis for reforms needed in education, culture and science. The JAE, ideologically related to the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Free Institution for Education), was abolished by Franco’s government in 1938 and replaced by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC – Higher Council for Scientific Research) in 1939.

1909 - 1926 Spain Political Context

Military actions in northern Morocco to prevent attacks by local tribesmen around Melilla are very unpopular in Spain because of forced levies. The levy decree of 1909 causes uprisings in Barcelona and other Catalonian cities known as Semana Trágica/Setmana Tràgica (Tragic Week). Spain is ultimately successful in the lengthy Rif War (1921–26) in preserving its rule over northern Morocco although in 1921 its army retreats with huge losses.

1910 Spain International Exhibitions Date Country Theme

“Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst” (Masterpieces of Islamic Art) exhibition in Munich displaying more than 3,600 artefacts. The exhibition gives Islamic art and archaeology a new push in the academic world and is considered a turning point in the orientalist view of and romantic passion for Islamic art and culture.

1911 - 1930 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo designs dresses, cloaks and tunics influenced by Arab and North African garments such as the abas or the bournous. He is best known for his dresses inspired by the garments of Antiquity such as his Delphos dresses, or in the orientalist style.

1912 Spain Fine And Applied Arts

Foundation of the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, an important step in the progress of applied arts and design, especially because its main objective is the education of workers, students and the public in the styles, decoration and other aspects of the applied arts.

1914 - 1920 Spain Economy And Trade

Due to Spain's neutrality in World War I, the economy witnesses increased production and industrial growth. The end of the war produces the beginning of a crisis that causes the end of the monarchy in 1931.

1918 Spain Political Context

Spain's neutrality in World War I brings important economic upturn.

1919 Spain Cities And Urban Spaces

The beginning of the Madrid subway system, the first in Spain, heralding a major advance in public transport in cities.