La Diputación provincial de Alicante (1812-1874)

Abstract

The thesis analyzes the legal framework of the territorial administration in Spain from the promulgation of the Constitution of Cadiz to the First Republic. The starting point is the provincial regime of Cadiz, analyzing the changes introduced in the territorial organization during the reign of Isabel II and the subsequent reforms occurring after the revolution of September 1868. At this point we can see how the struggle between moderates and progressives to implement their own territorial model reflects the conflict between the centralizing and decentralizing tendencies that were present throughout the entire 19th century. Then the research descends upon the praxis, investigating the specific case of the Provincial Council of Alicante. Studying this authority permits not only learning about the composition, operation, and competencies of these institutions, but furthermore seeing the difficulties that arose in putting nineteenth-century provincial legislation into operation.