Empire Rising: Spain

The Spanish Cabinet Government is quite unique; the Prime Minister does not control all cabinet positions.

However, the power of the Spanish Prime Minister is still considerable. The nine departments of finance, industry, agriculture, welfare, transportation, public security, healthcare, education, and foreign affairs are appointed directly by the Prime Minister.

There are no term limits for the ministers of these nine departments. As long as they are members of the Lower House, they can be appointed by the Prime Minister as ministers of a cabinet department.

Besides these nine cabinet departments appointed directly by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense elected by the military committee also has no term limits.

Considering that the officers trained by military academies have not yet grown to the rank of senior officers, the position of Minister of Defense can currently only be entrusted to Duke Serrano.

The Minister of Royal Affairs, directly appointed by the King, also has no term limits, making it the last position without term limits aside from the Prime Minister.

The remaining positions, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, the Minister of Justice, and the Deputy Prime Minister, all have term limits.

The reelection term limit for these three positions is two terms, with a maximum of three terms of service. After serving two consecutive terms, the individual must withdraw from the election and appointment to these positions, and after serving three full terms, they can no longer hold a position with a full term.

The current Spanish Cabinet is quite unique, as it was established as a provisional cabinet after Prime Minister Prim was assassinated.

This also means the provisional cabinet is not counted toward the cabinet members’ term limits, currently allowing all Spanish cabinet ministers to serve only two terms by calculation.

The positions of Minister of Colonial Affairs, Minister of Justice, and Deputy Prime Minister were established only during the provisional cabinet period.

This also means that the current cabinet ministers have not exceeded their term limits, and they can continue to serve in their positions.

Of course, this depends on whether the new Prime Minister of the next cabinet government is willing. The Prime Minister controls the appointment to the nine cabinet departments and can single-handedly change the cabinet’s composition.

Although reports from the finance sector offer good news, this does not mean that Spain’s fiscal situation is entirely healthy.

In fact, between 1869 and 1878, Spain had fiscal deficits in eight out of ten years.

The only two years of fiscal surplus amounted to just 9.7 million Pesseta and 5.8 million Pesseta, respectively.

Over the past decade, Spain’s total fiscal revenue reached 6,203.58 million Pesseta, while fiscal expenditure hit 6,853.1 million Pesseta, resulting in a total fiscal deficit of 649.52 million Pesseta, with average annual losses nearing 65 million Pesseta, which could build four to five of the most advanced ironclads.

If it weren’t for the Spanish Government’s successive loans obtained from Italy, Austria-Hungary, and France, followed by a large unexpected fortune from the Indian Temple Treasure, the Spanish Government’s finances might have been unable to sustain such a steep fiscal deficit.

Especially during the execution of the first Five-Year Plan, Spain faced annual fiscal losses exceeding 100 million Pesseta, with 1873 seeing losses nearing 200 million Pesseta.

Fortunately, although most of the second Five-Year Plan period was also spent in deficit, the fiscal losses had been reduced to below 20 million, within an entirely acceptable range.

After Minister of Finance Ewald completed his report, it was time for the Minister of Industry, who is also serving as Deputy Prime Minister, Canovas.

Besides reporting on the increase in Spain’s total steel production, Canovas also reported on the construction progress of the Barcelona Industrial Base.

According to estimates from the industry department, the third phase of the Barcelona Industrial Base construction is expected to be completed between mid to late 1879.

This also signifies that from 1880 onward, Spain’s industry will enter a phase of rapid growth. Surpassing the UK, Germany, and America may be a bit challenging, but surpassing France, the former dominant European power with now visibly slowed industrial growth, is still likely.

Although France has not disclosed its total annual steel production, intelligence personnel’s surveys and estimates of various French factories suggest that France’s total steel output last year was only slightly above 300,000 tons.

Although 100,000 tons more than Spain, this is also due to France’s significantly better industrial base than Spain.

Given France’s current slow industrial growth rate, if the Barcelona Industrial Base can be fully completed, Spain’s industry might hope to catch up to France within the next five years.

Although it seems straightforward, reaching this point has required Spain at least 15 years.

This is because the total industrial output of European countries is not currently substantial, and previously, each country’s steel production was only tens of thousands of tons.

When the steel output of future industrial powers reaches several million tons, surpassing these industrial countries will not be easy.

After all, building an output of several million tons of steel is very difficult, and consuming such an output is even more challenging. If one only focuses on increasing steel production without considering domestic demand for steel consumption, an acute economic crisis is inevitable.

Although Spain’s industrial development speed is fast, it has been planned to account for Spain’s industrial product needs comprehensively.

Moreover, with Spain owning the large colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, exporting some industrial products won’t be an issue.

Spain even has the capability to engage in economic output with Portugal, whose industry pales against Spain, facilitating faster consumption of Spanish industrial products.

At least as of now, Spain’s industrial finished product output and demand remain at a healthy ratio, ensuring that Spain’s industrial development will not face the threat of an economic crisis.

With future population growth in Spain and expansion into the colonies, Spain’s ability to consume industrial products domestically will further increase.

This is why Spain views France as a target in the industrial realm, because with large colonies, Spain is qualified to build a larger-scale industry, at least not blindly developing to become self-destructive.