ABSTRACT

This chapter traces the reasons for the delay in the consolidation of the discipline of economic history in Spain, as well as the causes that may explain its rapid development as of the 1970s. It seeks to discover whether any advantage has been gained from the original state of backwardness. The chapter covers the main research streams followed in certain decades, analysing them from a perspective that people might describe as group-based. It presents a number of ideas regarding the main traditional debates involving Spanish economic historians, exploring the extent to which they may be interpreted in terms of path dependency. The chapter analyses the internationalization process in which Spanish economic history is currently immersed and its impact upon topics and methods. Networks focusing upon industrial growth in Spain also took important steps in the 1980s. The glut in research on economic history in Spain complicates the search for certain common denominators of development.