Ports and economic activities in Galicia at the end of the early modern period

Abstract

This article explores three dimensions of the commercial and industrial activities developed in Galicia – a region located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula – in the second half of the eighteenth century. First, the complex features of the Atlantic and Cantabrian coastline and the difficulties in ensuring adequate access to ports; second, knowledge of these conditions by the authorities of the Spanish Crown and by potential foreign parties interested in using these ports; and third, the location of the economic activities that came to be developed. We shall also consider whether the measures introduced to stimulate the economy had the desired effect, especially for industry. To this end we have drawn on the existing literature – focusing on three ports and on the merchants and industrialists – and sources found in Spanish and French national archives, as well as reports and descriptions published in the period studied