Between the market and the state: Ibáñez, the Marquis of Sargadelos (1749–1809), a Spanish businessman sailing against the tide

When Spain began the transition from the Old Regime to liberalism, the business career of the Marquis of Sargadelos was unique. In an institutional scenario in which being a ‘profit seeker’ was an almost indispensable prerequisite to overcoming the steep barriers to the entry of manufacturing initiatives, and in a society where the capital accumulated in commercial and manufacturing ventures was diverted to the purchase of rural land, Ibáñez was an exception to the norm in two senses: first, for his willingness to take a risk on new industries, and second, for his efforts to update the available technology. It is in this sense that he might be described as a ‘Schumpeterian entrepreneur’. The aim of this article is to consider Ibáñez’s business career from a new perspective, both what it has in common with the classical business cycle of the time and the unique features of his industrial initiatives.