The demography of the industrialized province of biscay in northern spain

Abstract

This article examines the profound social and demographic effects of industrialization and modernization on the province of Biscay in northern Spain. Careful analysis of household listings and census results for the years (1825), 1900, and 1930 for three representative regions of the province—the capital Bilbao, the new industrial center of Baracaldo, and a selection of rural communities—shows the profound effects of industrial immigration to the area on fertility and mortality patterns, nuptiality behaviors, and household structures. In addition, the accumulated changes left a socio-cultural division in the province between a modernized urban–industrial and a traditional rural region—a division that was strongly felt well into the twentieth century.

Acknowledgements

This article has been possible thanks to a post-doc grant received from the Basque Country Government.

Notes

1 In the data base, the variables for each individual are: number of the family, address, mean size of the family, family type, kinship, civil status, sex, age, occupation, literacy, and years of residence. In populations greater than 4,000 inhabitants a sample has been made at the ±2 level with an error of 99.9 percent.

2 For criticism of the quality of this source in different municipalities of Biscay, see Arbaiza Vilallonga 1996, pp. 283–291; and in the case of Bilbao, see Pareja Alonso 1997, pp. 339–345.

3 The number of municipalities in each cross-sectional analysis is different, depending on the quality of the source. In 1825, Ceánuri, Plencia, and Jemein are included. In 1900, Arteaga, Ceánuri, Lezama, Munitibar, Trucios, and Jemein are part of the sample. And in 1930 there are Arteaga, Ceanuri, Plencia, Lezama, Arbácegui Guerricaiz, Trucı́os, and Jemein.

4 Between the years 1887 and 1900, the province of Biscay experienced more actual growth from than all of Spain: see Mikelarena 1993, p. 37.

5 Concerning family migration in Bilbao, see Pareja Alonso 1996, 1997; in the industrial village of Baracaldo, see Arbaiza Vilallonga 1998.

6 The province of Biscay had the earliest and most dense railway system in Spain: see González Portilla et al. 1993.

7 This has been demonstrated in the study made by the author in Bilbao. The results confirm the propensity by men to seek brides born in the same places of origin as them; see Pareja Alonso 1997.

8 There is an extensive literature about the demographic transition both at the national or local levels. As basic texts see Coale and Watkins 1986, Chesnais 1986, and more recently, Gillis et al. 1992.

9 This lag in the fertility trend in the province of Biscay had a strong connection with women's opportunities for entering the labor market: Anderson 1988 expresses this idea. The fact that in Biscay the industrial labor market drew most on men for its main labor force is relevant to this point. For example, in the main iron-steel mill in Baracaldo, only 5 percent of emloyees were women (Pérez Castroviejo 1992).

10 Several sources pertaining to the Basque rural world of complex families can be found in Urrutikoetxea 1992.

11 a The adaptive strategy concept in reference to the nuclear family was first outlined by Wall 1990.

12 This situation is common in newly industrializing areas; for another example, see Janssens 1993.

13 This point of view has been reflected in two Spanish studies about the regions where the extended family was of great importance: see Urrutikoetxea 1992 for the Basque Country and Barrera 1990 for Catalonia.

14 About housing problems in Bilbao and the Biscayan industrialized area in general see Chapter 4 in González Portilla 1995.

15 This assumption has long been a matter of controversy. For a recently confirmation of the relationship between these two variables in Spain, see Reher 1999; Pareja Alonso 1997, pp. 37–59.

16 This has been demonstrated in the q0 and 4q1 annual series (1730–1930) for the province of Biscay; see Arbaiza et al. 1996.

17 An increase in mortality levels since industrialization has been general in all the industrializing areas in Europe: see, for example, Leboutte 1988, Oris 1993, and Bourdelais and Demonet 1994.

18 In fact, around 1887, life expectancy in the industrialized and mining areas of Biscay fwas about 25 years: see González Portilla 1995. In the case of Bilbao, life expectancy in worker's districts in 1900 was an incredible 21 years: see Pareja Alonso 1997, p. 330.