Three of the principal inland towns of Galicia—viz. Lugo, Orense, and Tuy—rise on the banks of the Miño. The old Roman city of Lugo (Lucus Augusti) is enclosed within mediæval walls, and has warm sulphur springs. Orense, with its superb old bridge, is likewise celebrated for its hot springs, or burgas, which are {460} said to raise sensibly the temperature of the plain in winter, and supply the whole town with water for domestic purposes. Tuy, opposite the Portuguese town of Valença do Minho, is important only as a frontier fortress. Santiago de Compostela, the famous old capital of Galicia, on a hill near the winding banks of the Saria, is the most populous town of North-western Spain. It was here the grave of St. James the apostle was discovered in the ninth century. The attraction which it formerly exercised upon pilgrims was immense.[168]

IX.—THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SPAIN.

Contemporaneous Spain is full of disorder. The political, financial, and social machinery is out of joint, and civil war, active or latent, is carried on almost in every province. The ruin wrought by these incessant domestic wars is incalculable.

[Μ]

Fig. 184.—SANTOÑA AND SANTANDER.

Scale 1 : 360,000.

Successive Governments have had recourse to miserable expedients without being able to disguise the bankrupt condition of the country. The creditors of the State, no less than the Government officials, remained unpaid, and even schools had to be closed because the pittance due to the schoolmaster was not forthcoming.

But in spite of this apparent ruin real progress has been made. In order to fairly judge Spain we must remember that the period when the Inquisition was permitted to commit its judicial murders is not very remote. In 1780 a woman of Seville was burnt at the stake for “sorcery and witchcraft.” At that time the greater part of Spain was held in mortmain, and the cultivation of the remainder {461} was very indifferently attended to. Ignorance was universal, more especially at the universities, where science was held in derision.

The great events in the beginning of the nineteenth century have roused the Spaniards from their torpor, and the country, in spite of temporary checks, has increased in population and wealth. Labour is more highly respected now than it was formerly, and whilst monasteries and convents have been emptied, the factories are crowded with workmen. For much of this progress Spain is indebted to foreigners. Millions have been invested by them, and, though the expected profits have scarcely ever been realised, the country at large has permanently profited from this inflow of capital. The English have given an immense impetus to agriculture by buying the wines of Andalusia, the corn and flour of the Castilians, and the cattle of the Galicians. They have likewise developed the mining industry of Huelva, Linares, Cartagena, and Somorrostro. The French have vastly aided the manufacturing industry. Foreign capitalists and engineers have established steamboat lines and railways. The small towns of the interior are awakening from their lethargy, and modern life is beginning to pulsate through their veins.[169]