Business Trajectories in the History of Spain - Sectors, Figures and Transformations

This edited volume offers a fresh look at how business in Spain has evolved from the 18th century to today. It examines how entrepreneurs, families, foreign investors, and public institutions shaped the country s shift from a rural economy to an industrialized society. Through detailed case studies, from steel and coal to tourism and agriculture, it shows how business decisions were influenced by politics, social change, and global capital.
The book challenges the idea of Spanish economic backwardness by highlighting innovation, resilience, and strategic adaptation. It blends economic history and business studies to provide a rich, multidimensional view of Spain s business landscape. The book will appeal to scholars, students, and researchers of economics, business studies, and economic and business history, as well as to anyone interested in how historical business practices inform today s economic challenges.

List of contents

Chapter 1. Companies and Entrepreneurs: An Economic History Perspective.- Chapter 2. The Spanish System of Grain Banks (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Centuries).- Chapter 3. Entrepreneurship and Spanish Bourgeoisie at the Start of the Liberal Revolution: Study of Antequera (Malaga), 1835-1836.- Chapter 4. Foreign Capital in the Gas Industry in Spain, Lebon et Cie. (1845-1925).- Chapter 5. A Century-old Coal Company: Hullera Vasco-Leonesa.- Chapter 6. The Business History of the Malaga Steel Industry.- Chapter 7. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, businessman and politician: a technocratic president?.- Chapter 8. Hotel Companies and Entrepreneurs in 20th-century Spain.- Chapter 9. The Figure of the Executive in the Management of the Modern Company: Pedro Durán Farell and Catalana de Gas (1950-1970).- Chapter 10. Business History in Times of Change: Cycles, Crises and Recovery at Construcciones Calderón.

Product details

• Assisted by: Cabrera-Gallardo (Editor), Francisco Cabrera-Gallardo (Editor), María Vázquez-Fariñas (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 29.03.2026
• EAN: 9783032162137
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3216213-7
• No. of pages: 155
• Illustrations: IV, 155 p. 7 illus.
• Series: Frontiers in Economic History
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; Wirtschaftswachstum, Innovation, Wirtschaftswissenschaft, Mikroökonomie, Industrien und Branchenstudien, Entrepreneurship, Economic history, economic growth, industrialization, business culture, Microeconomics, Economy-wide Country Studies, Microhistory, Sector and Industry Studies, Unternehmertum / Start-ups, Public institutions, Economic Transitions, Economic modernization, foreign investment, Institutional development, Capital formation, Local entrepreneurial agency, Spanish business history, Agrarian economy, Historical entrepreneurship, Family enterprises, Industrial evolution