An approach to provincial legislation during the reign of Sabela II (1833-1868)

Abstract

The reign of Sabela II (1833-1868) meant the definitive construction of the liberal state in Spain and the provincial administration, through the provincial councils and government delegates, were key elements in that process. But the administrative and political consolidation of the Provincial Councils, after a long period of instability with the reign of Ferdinand VII, had to go through a divided process in a first phase of returns to old Doceanist norms and new progressive laws (1833-1843); a second marked by the long predominance of a doctrinaire and moderate centralist liberalism (1845-1854); a third and brief phase showing decentralization attempts (1854-1865) and a period of return to moderantism (1866-1868) before the revolutionary outbreak of 1868. Through a compilation of major provincial laws and projects during the Sabine reign, we try to analyze and show those steps that led to the consolidation of the Provincial Councils in Spain.