Introduction: A Millennial View of Spain’s Development

This Introduction provides an overview of the evolution of Spain over almost a millennium, distinguishing two major epochs, with 1850 as the turning point. The first, which corresponds to the pre-industrial era, evinces long fluctuations in average income and its distribution and no long-term net gains, while the second reveals a sustained increase in GDP per capita accompanied by a profound structural transformation and substantial changes in income distribution.