El bacalao en España (1850-1914): importación y política comercial

Spain has traditionally been the largest consumer market for salted cod. However, despite Spain’s important presence in the international cod market and the contribution it has made to Spanish tax revenue throughout much of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, most of the literature has addressed the issue as part of broader studies of the primary sector, consumption patterns or other matters that generally focused on the demand side. This article seeks to remedy this deficiency, placing the theme as an object of study in itself and using a supply side approach. First, we have reconstructed import market statistics, examining the relative weight of cod to total import figures and measuring their significance in relation to the revenue of the Spanish Treasury. Second, we have determined the geographical origins of imported cod and its fluctuations over time. The final part of the essay is devoted to the salted cod trade and tariff policies adopted by the Spanish government. The period examined here, 1850-1914, covers a span that extends from the earliest Spanish foreign trade statistics to the First World War, when global cod markets experienced dramatic changes.