Un nuevo perfil del proteccionismo español durante la Restauración, 1875–1930

This article discusses a new series of alternative indexes to measure Spanish protectionism in the period 1875–1930. The new indexes show that the biases downwards of the conventional index are relevant specially for the protection increase at given years and sectors. They confirm the relatively high level of protection at the beginning of the «Restauración» in the 1870's but contradict the stable level of protection before First World War and put forward an upward cyclical trend until the 1920's. From the beginning of the period Spanish protection was mainly industrial. When the general protection index is moderate, agriculture improves its position in relation to industry, and when protection increases the reverse occurs. The high level of departure, the upward cyclical trend and the permanent industrial bias support the traditional hypothesis of the existence of a strong influence of the industrial sector in Spanish comercial policy design and deny the «compulsory» or «accidental» explanation of the Spanish return to protection in the 1890's.