Clima, crisis y reformismo agrario en tiempos del conde de Floridablanca

Abstract

Historical discussion concerning the figure and works of the Count of Floridablanca -especially relating to his interest in agrarian reform- has tended to ignore the environmental circumstances of Spanish agriculture. This article reports the preliminary findings of a research project dealing with the climatic conditions prevailing at the time, how these affected harvests and what initiatives were undertaken by the political authorities to deal with these or prevent them, and it inquires to what extent agrarian reformism and attempts at town and country planning accomplished any of the proposed objectives.

Keywords

• Floridablanca
• Agrarian reformism
• Climatic swings
• Crisis
• Epidemics
• Natural disasters