Abstract
In the mid-1930s, the young Spanish economist Román Perpiñá Grau began his research into the spatial distribution of the Spanish population. Considered as one of the pioneers in studies of the economic structure of Spain, he was also recognised as a master by some of the most prominent figures in Spain in this field. Two works will be the basis of our study: De economía hispana (1935) and Corología (1954). In this paper we will analyse how his research on the behaviour of the population has stood the test of time, comparing the results he presented with those obtained today, almost 90 and 70 years after the dates of their respective publications.
Ignorance of the structure of our population is a source of errors in our economic policy.
(Perpiñá Grau, 1954)
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Notes
- 1.
Román Perpiñá Grau (1902–1991). Born in Reus, this Catalan was one of the pioneers in the development of economic science in Spain. Focusing on studies on economic structure, he had a very prolific activity in terms of economic publications, not only with research on economic structure. His research showed a great philosophical influence of Greek thinkers and he was also a fervent Catholic. His research on the economic development of Spain, his defence of free international trade and his criticism of state protectionism of products stand out. Among other recognitions and merits, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias prize for social sciences in the first edition of this award in 1981 and was also named Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universities of Valencia and Barcelona.
- 2.
As stated in the publication Memoria gráfica de emigración española “Although today Spain is mainly known (especially in Latin America) as a destination country for immigrants from all over the world, we cannot forget that Spain has been and continues to be a “country of emigration”. Spanish emigration has been a political, social and economic phenomenon that has characterised our history, accentuated from the second half of the 19th century until beyond the mid-20th century” (Rivas & Rodríguez, 2009, p. 138).
- 3.
One might think that population distribution is not a field of research exclusive to economics, and that it would fit better in sociology, but we find economic variables that affect it to such a degree as to be considered prevalent.
- 4.
CHADE (Compañía Hispano Americana de Electricidad) SOFINA (Societé Financière de Transports et d’Enterprises Industrielles). After the Great War, German shareholders were forced by armistice conditions to sell their shares in neutral countries. This is why CATE (Compañía Alemana Transatlántica de Alemania) became the property of SOFINA, a Spanish consortium based in Brussels.
- 5.
Francisco Cambó Batlle (1876–1947) Catalan lawyer and politician of a conservative and Catalanist persuasion. He was one of the founders of the Regionalist League party and a member of parliament on several occasions. His postulates could be summarised as an attempt to make Catalonia an influential region in the future of Spanish politics as a whole. Defender of protectionism and director of CHADE when Román Perpiñá, who was hired by Cambó himself, was in charge of the company’s studies section.
- 6.
Bernard Harms (1876–1939). German economist who founded the Institute of World Economics in Kiel in 1914. This institution has been a world leader in the field of economic and business research for more than 100 years.
- 7.
Andreas Preadhol (1892–1974) was a German economist who headed the Kiel Institute, replacing Harms, and later became rector of the University of Kiel. He managed to maintain the research environment in Kiel in the difficult years between 1935 and 1945.
- 8.
In 1935 he had to cancel another planned trip when he had to go to London as an advisor to a commission negotiating a trade treaty between Spain and Great Britain.
- 9.
Perpiñá was part of its foundation and the first person to direct it in 1929. Here the German influence on Perpignà was also present in his attempt to replicate the generation of data files for the production of statistics, similar to those he had used in Germany for his thesis.
- 10.
Perpiñá’s concern for the future of the world economy was a constant element of his research, and became a topic to which he would return throughout his life.
- 11.
The calculations are presented by Perpiñá using a map from the Instituto Geográfico y Catastral and the INE census densities (Perpiñá Grau, 1954, p. 25).
- 12.
The first division made by Republican Rome in 197 BC was Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, into two parts of the peninsula as it advanced inland. The first emperor Augustus took control of the whole of Hispania and divided it into three regions, Lusitania, Baetica and Tarraconensis in 27 BC. Two centuries later Caracalla in 214 AD created the province of Gallaecia in the northwestern territories of Tarraconensis. The last division dates from 293 AD and is the one we have taken to compare with the Perpignan model. In this division of the Iberian Peninsula, the emperor Diocletian created the province of Carthaginensis, leaving the peninsula with five large continental regions, the result of the presence of an administration like the Roman one for almost five centuries.
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del Castillo Soto, D., Baumert, T. (2023). The Spatial Distribution of the Population in Peninsular Spain: An Evolution of a Permanent Nature. In: Tsounis, N., Vlachvei, A. (eds) Advances in Empirical Economic Research. ICOAE 2022. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22749-3_10
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