The kingdom of LEON is divided into five provinces, Salamanca, Valladolid, Zamora, Palencia, Leon. Salamanca lies along the Portuguese frontier, which is here formed by the Rivers Douro and Agueda. The city (15,000) was famous throughout the early part of the Middle Ages for its university and for its Arabic and Hebrew learning. It thus became in popular estimation the home of magic and of the black arts, and as such its name is found in the folk-lore tales of many parts of Europe; its students, poor, riotous, and witty, made it the birthplace of the peculiar, picaresque romance literature of Spain, from Lazarillo de Tormes to Gil Blas. Like all the Spanish provincial universities, it is but the shadow of its former self, nor does the city preserve any of the older features which still make Toledo a delight to the tourist. Its old bridge over the Tormes is said to date from Roman times. Bejar (8000) does a fair trade as a manufactory of cloth. Ciudad Rodrigo (5000) is one of the strongest fortresses of Spain, and guards, with Badajoz, the frontier against Portugal. The provinces of Salamanca and Zamora contain some of the most peculiar and picturesque peasantry yet remaining in Spain; even around Salamanca the festal dresses of the Charros and Charras are rich with gold and silver ornaments of Moorish type. In the valley of the Batuecas, amid the Sierra de Gata, the Hurdes, and to the west of Zamora, the Sayagos, and again, the Maragatos, to the north-west of the province, in the mountains of Leon, are all remnants of ancient races, preserving habits and tribal customs and laws, differing from their neighbours, and well worthy of the study, as survivals, of the comparative ethnologist. The contrabandistas of the province are among the boldest in Spain; they cross the Douro and its deep ravine, sometimes on rafts or on inflated skins; at others, when the river is in flood, in baskets suspended from ropes flung across the whole ravine.
Zamora (10,000), formerly a strong walled city on the Douro, in a rich country, notwithstanding the rail which unites it to the Medina del Campo, still remains one of the decaying towns of Spain. Toro (9000), higher up the stream, is a busier town. A great impulse will probably be given to all this district, now one of the most behindhand in Spain, by the completion of the Portuguese lines of Beira-alta, connecting Lisbon and Oporto with Paris by the North Spanish lines. Benavente (5000), on the Esla, is the only other town we have to notice.
Leon, which gave its name to one of the old kingdoms of Spain before the re-conquest of the Castiles, is full of towns which recall the glories of the past, but which are of little importance in modern times. The capital (9000) is noted for its cathedral and churches, which are perhaps the purest specimens of Gothic, unmixed with Arabian art, to be found in Spain. The province is generally mountainous, especially to the north and west, and the higher lands afford excellent summer pasture for flocks from the plains, and even from Estremadura. The valley of the Esla is extremely fertile. Astorga (5000) may be considered as the Capital of the Maragatos, of whom we have spoken above; like Sahagun (3000), it is a town of ancient consequence now dwindling to insignificance. The "fuero" or charter of Sahagun, 1085, was the model of the "fueros" or constitutional privileges of the Castiles, which were eventually lost in the war of the comuneros in the time of Charles V.
Palencia.—Through this province passes the canal of Castile from Alar del Rey to Valladolid, borrowing its waters from the Pisuerga, and is the most useful for transport of all the canals of Spain. This waterway is less needed now, owing to the railway of the north from Valladolid to Santander, to Bilbao, and to San Sebastian, which runs parallel to it; but it will be always available for local traffic. The capital is a walled city on the banks of the Carrion, a little above its junction with the Pisuerga, an affluent of the Douro; its cathedral is remarkable for its size and simplicity, but is otherwise inferior to Leon. The valleys, watered by these rivers are very rich in cereals, which find their outlet for exportation at Santander. The great coal-field of the Asturias extends into the north of this province, and at Barruelo de Santillana is largely worked by the Northern Railway Company, and supplies Madrid with a yearly increasing quantity of coal. The villages near the mines are fast becoming populous towns.
Valladolid (52,000) was till the middle of the sixteenth century the capital of Spain, and is likely to become of great importance in the near future as the point of junction of all the Spanish and Portuguese railways of the north and west. The Douro flows through the centre of the province, and the plains of Valladolid are perhaps the most fertile of all those in North-western Spain. It is a great centre for the corn-trade of the Castiles, and the smoke from its tall chimneys tells also of manufacturing industry. There are here two colleges for Scotch and Irish students for the Roman Catholic priesthood. They were established at the time of the persecutions in England, but are much less frequented now than formerly. Medina del Campo (4500) an ancient commercial city, was ruined in the wars of the comuneros, but may recover somewhat of its former traffic as a junction of railways. A town of similar name and standing, Medina de Rio Seco (4500), is in the north of the province; both are situated in rich corn-growing plains. Tordesillas (3500), on the Douro, owes its existence to the junction of roads which cross the river by its noble bridge. In this province is the Castle of Simancas, wherein are deposited the archives of Spain, as those of the Indies are at Seville. Long closed to the world, they are now open to the researches of scholars, and guides and inventories in aid are being published during the present year.
The Balearic Isles.
These islands are geologically a submarine continuation of the Valencian mountains which sink into the sea at Cape Nao. They are divided into two groups: (1) Minorca, Majorca, Cabrera, and a few islets; the nearest point of which to the mainland is Soller on Majorca, ninety-three miles distant; (2) Iviza and Formentera, with some smaller satellites, are within sixty miles of the Spanish coast. The whole superficies of the islands is nearly two thousand square miles. The inhabitants number about 290,000. The climate is equable but exceedingly variable within somewhat narrow limits; the average both for Minorca and Majorca being sixty-four, the highest temperature ninety, and the lowest forty-four. The average rainfall is nearly twenty inches. Majorca, the largest of the islands is about sixty miles from east to west, and fifty from north to south. The surface is very broken, but with a few fertile plains; the greatest elevation is 5000 feet. Minorca, twenty and a half miles to the east of Majorca, is twenty miles long by six broad. Iviza, the largest island of the western group is only four miles by four. The highest points of these two islands are about 1000 feet; but Iviza retains traces of volcanic action which seem to connect it geologically with the extinct Catalan volcanoes, by way of the Columbretes rocks, and the Point de la Baña at the mouth of the Ebro. Majorca and Minorca are remarkable for erections called "Talayots," similar to the "Nuraghies" of Sardinia; they are the work of one of the many prehistoric, or at least unrecorded races whose blood mingles in the veins of the present inhabitants, and the origin of them has given rise to almost as many theories as those of the round towers of Ireland and Scotland. In the west of Majorca is the remarkable and extensive cavern of Arta. The language of the islanders is one of the purest dialects of the Provençal speech. The only separate race now in the islands is that of the "Chuetas" or converted Jews, who still keep apart notwithstanding their nominal Christianity. The population is mostly engaged in agriculture, and the islands export fruits, oil, leather, and a few cattle, to an annual value altogether of 350,000l, while the imports amount to 210,000l. The land is cultivated mostly by peasant proprietors and metayers in small holdings, and by reason of steady emigration those who remain are fairly prosperous. The people show strong aesthetic tastes, and the art school of Palma is one of the most flourishing of the whole of Spain. The chief towns on Majorca are Palma, on the east coast, of 58,000 inhabitants; Manacor, in the centre, of 12,500; Felanitz, 10,000; and Llummayor, Soller, Inca, and Pollensa, of about 8000 each. Minorca has only two towns of importance, Port Mahon, 22,000, and Ciudella, 7000, at opposite extremities of the island. Port Mahon is perhaps the finest harbour in the Mediterranean, and is also one of its strongest fortresses; during the English occupation the town attained great prosperity. Iviza has only one town, of the same name as the island, containing 5500 inhabitants. We have noticed before that the majolica ware was not made in these islands, but at Valencia, and that it acquired the name from Balearic vessels being used for its export to Italy.
CHAPTER VI.
HISTORY AND POLITICAL CONSTITUTION.
IN order to understand the present constitution, the political condition, and the aspirations of the Spanish nation, it is absolutely necessary to have some slight acquaintance with its previous history. This we propose to give as briefly as possible.
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries there is no doubt that the inhabitants of Northern Spain, under some of the petty kings, enjoyed more constitutional liberty than any other people in Europe; that their institutions generally, and especially their municipal privileges, were more in accordance with the ideas of modern freedom and self-government than those of any other nation at that date. The feudal system never attained in Northern Spain, except in parts of Catalonia, the systematic development, and the organized oppression of the lower classes, which it reached in many other parts of Europe. The peculiar institution of "behetria," which prevailed in Leon and the Castiles, and by which a serf was free to go whither he would "from sea to sea," with all his goods, and to put himself under any lord he chose, was of itself an almost sufficient check to excessive tyranny by the nobles. The old Roman municipal organization, of the towns had been preserved by tradition throughout the whole of the Visigothic times down to 711, nor had the practical working completely died out at the epoch of the early reconquest of the north. Hence many of the charters or "fueros" granted to the towns and cities by the kings are evidently founded on a recollection of former institutions, modified according to the necessities of the times. Thus the charter of Leon (1020) expressly allows exemption from all arbitrary exactions, and grants the free election of the Alcalde, and of the municipal council, with only the appointment of the judges by the king. By the fuero of Arganzon (1191) it is expressly stated that if these royal officers overpassed their duties, it would be lawful to kill them without incurring any responsibility. Similar but still more strongly-worded clauses are found in all the Basque fueros, and in the coronation oath of Aragon.