Spain’s Ecclesiastical Confiscations: Mendizabal and Madoz Laws
Mendizabal’s Confiscation (1835-1844)
In 1835, facing a treasury deficit, Mendizabal returned to Spain and implemented several laws between 1835 and 1837 to confiscate church property. Royal decrees in 1836 dissolved and closed convents (secularization) and seized property of religious orders. This led to the nationalization and public auction of rural and urban properties, movable assets, and even libraries and artwork. Initially targeting the regular clergy, the 1837 Ley de Bienes Nacionales extended the sale to assets of the secular clergy, a process lasting until 1841. Buildings used for charity and education were excluded. Properties were auctioned to the highest bidder, with payment plans spanning eight years, payable in cash or government bonds.
Economist Flórez Estrada proposed an alternative: state retention of the lands, leased long-term to peasants. Annual lease payments would address treasury needs while maintaining state ownership and improving farmers’ conditions and production. However, the complexity of this plan favored Mendizabal’s approach.
Mendizabal’s objectives were:
- Strengthen the military to win the Carlist War.
- Improve public finances by using sale proceeds to amortize debt and pay state debts. Regular tax revenue would also increase as new owners paid taxes.
- Expand support for liberalism.
- Create a landowning middle class of farmers, boosting production, investment, and national wealth.
The process continued until 1844 when the moderates gained power, suspending most sales and returning unsold properties. By then, three-quarters of the ecclesiastical patrimony had been sold. The 1851 Concordat saw the Church recognize the sales in exchange for the State’s commitment to maintaining worship and the clergy.
Madoz’s “Civil” Confiscation (1854-1856)
Between 1854 and 1856, during the “Two Progressives” period under Espartero, a new confiscation process began. On May 1, 1855, Finance Minister Pascual Madoz introduced the General Confiscation Act. This act targeted remaining church property and all other common property (owned and community), hence the name “civil confiscation,” as municipalities owned most of the sold land.
This process, lasting until 1924 (Calvo Sotelo’s Municipal Statute), virtually eliminated “dead hand goods” in Spain. Despite opposition from the Church (due to the violation of the 1851 Concordat) and the Queen’s refusal to sign, the Madoz Act was implemented immediately.
The sales procedure resembled Mendizabal’s, with some differences:
- Larger sales volume (20% of Spanish land)
- Farms sold in smaller lots
- Payment in cash (10%), with the rest postponed (14 installments)
- Profits primarily financed railway expansion and, to a lesser extent, municipalities under state “custody.”
Municipal land sales failed to settle public debt and ruined many poorer municipalities reliant on communal lands. The bourgeoisie benefited most, though smallholder participation in village auctions increased compared to Mendizabal’s confiscation. O’Donnell’s government, ending the Progressive Biennium, abolished the Madoz Law’s seizure.