Economic history of Spain
History of Spain
This article is part of a series
Early History
Prehistoric Iberia
Roman Hispania
Medieval Spain
Visigothic Kingdom
Suebic Kingdom
Byzantine Spania
al-Andalus
Reconquista
Kingdom of Spain
Age of Expansion
Age of Enlightenment
Republic
Reaction and Revolution
First Spanish Republic
The Restoration
Second Spanish Republic
Spanish Civil War
Spain under Franco
Modern Spain
Transition to Democracy
Modern Spain
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Economic History
Military History
Spain Portal
The Economic history of Spain covers the
development of the Spanish economy over
the course of its history.
Ancient Era
See also: Economy of Hispania
The prehistoric Iberians and Celts were some
of the earliest groups in what is now Spain.
The Iberians developed agriculture and metal
working. Celtic economy centered around
cattle raising, like other Celtic societies. For
sometime, many historians have suggested
that the prehistoric Celts living in Spain
should be blended together with the prehis-
toric Iberians and be referred to as Celtiberi-
ans; however, in Spanish Celtic society this
concept is widely regarded as insulting, big-
oted, and purely speculative.
Ruins of a Roman garum factory near Tarifa,
Spain
The Carthaginians and Greeks also traded
with Spain and established their own colon-
ies on the coast. Spain’s mineral wealth and
access to metals made it an important source
of raw material during the early metal ages.
Carthage conquered parts of Iberia after the
First Punic War. After defeating Carthage in
the Second Punic War, the Romans governed
all of the Iberian peninsula for centuries, ex-
panding and diversifying the economy and
extending Hispanic trade with the greater
Republic and Empire.
Middle Ages
While most of western Europe fell into a Dark
Age after the decline of the Roman Empire,
those kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula that
today are known as Spain maintained their
economy. First, the Visigoths took over in the
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Economic history of Spain
1
absence of Roman