2026/01/01 by Nicola Cacciatore
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Historical and socio-economic studies of Spain and related regions #History and International Relations #Spanish History and Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0960777326101933
openalex publication_date 2026/01/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Eduardo Aunós Pérez, minister of labour during Primo de Rivera’s regime, launched an ambitious reform in November 1926, intended as the first step in transforming the country into a corporatist state. However, the results were lacklustre. Initially, corporations were limited to the industrial sector (and encountered a complex application); it was not until 1928 that Aunós attempted to finalise the reform by including agricultural workers but was faced by the fierce opposition of the Catholic trade unions and the agrarian landowners, who managed to block it until the collapse of the regime in 1930. While limited in its results, Aunós’s reform nonetheless represented an important precedent for the application of corporatism in Europe and in the contemporary debates surrounding it. In particular, the network Aunós built in Spain by concentrating power and personnel around his ministry is worth examining in this context. This contribution takes a three-pronged approach, analysing the construction of this network, the main topics Aunós conveyed in his writing around corporatism and how his network functioned as a means to disseminate them to investigate the way in which these topics were rearticulated, as part of a process of ‘fascistisation’ of Spanish politics during the 1920s, as well as the role of Aunós in coalescing this network together.