Empire Rising: Spain

In the current context of Spain, the power held by the Prime Minister is actually greater than that of the King. If the Prime Minister wishes, he can easily render the King powerless and control the entire Parliament.

At the annual summary report meeting, each department prepared detailed report materials, summarizing even the smallest achievements.

Carlo certainly would not miss such an important meeting. The annual summary report meeting was held in Parliament, and Carlo, amidst the varied glances of the members, calmly took his seat at the head of the Parliament.

A few minutes later, the entire report meeting officially began.

As usual, Prime Minister Prim first set a broad tone.

“His Majesty the King, esteemed members. The year 1873 has been tremendously important for us. Thanks to the government’s efforts, the industrial environment in Spain has seen a noticeable growth.

According to the estimates of the Cabinet Government, as of today, the total population in our country has officially surpassed 17.75 million, an increase of at least 300,000 compared to last year.

Our gross domestic product for the whole year is approximately 7.861 billion Pesseta, with a growth rate exceeding 9% compared to the previous year.

Although an economic crisis erupted across Europe in May, Spain was not severely affected. To counteract the potential reduction in imports and exports caused by the economic crisis, we formulated various plans and achieved relatively good results.

Through the economic growth rate, it is evident that the government’s plan was very successful. We are also the only country in the world that has achieved positive economic growth during the economic crisis, with a growth rate even higher than before the crisis.”

Speaking of positive economic growth, Prime Minister Prim’s report received applause from all the members of Parliament.

Carlo was the first to applaud. After Carlo took the initiative to applaud, other members, even those who hadn’t planned to, had no choice but to join in.

After waiting for a little over a minute, until the applause subsided, Prime Minister Prim continued with his summary report:

“Thanks to our positive economic growth, the government’s total fiscal income for the entire year also saw a significant increase.

According to the financial department’s statistics, the total fiscal income for the year 1873 was 545.1 million Pesseta, which is an increase of 19.2 million Pesseta over last year.

However, to address the impact of the fiscal crisis on Spain, the government significantly increased the proportion of fiscal expenditure.

Throughout 1873, our total fiscal expenditure reached 743.3 million Pesseta. Of this, regular fiscal expenditure was 612.7 million Pesseta, and spending on foreign operations was 130.6 million Pesseta.

Although the annual fiscal deficit approached 200 million Pesseta, the foreign factories and enterprises purchased through government foreign operations will significantly aid both our industrial growth.

It is anticipated that in the upcoming years, Spain’s industry and economy will disregard the economic crisis’ impact and undergo rapid development.

The government will soon introduce a detailed new five-year development plan, dedicated to Spain’s comprehensive development and industrial construction in the next five years.

The first five-year construction that we started in 1869 has already achieved significant success. Over these nearly five years, our industries, agriculture, railways, education, and economic development have all achieved remarkable successes.

Since the launch of the five-year plan, our total population has increased by approximately 1.15 million, steel production has increased by over 400,000 tons, and the economy has grown by over 2 billion Pesseta.

Our fiscal income has risen from less than 300 million Pesseta in 1868 to almost 550 million Pesseta in 1873, a difference exceeding 250 million Pesseta, close to the total fiscal income of 1868.

We have increased investment in railways. As of now, the total railway mileage in Spain has exceeded 7,400 kilometers, leaving less than 100 kilometers to reach our initial target of 7,500 kilometers.

Before the five-year plan started, our total railway mileage was less than 5,400 kilometers. Over five years, we have constructed over 2,000 kilometers of railway, and we will continue to increase our investment in railways.

In the next five-year plan, Spain will achieve a total railway scale of over 10,000 kilometers. Perhaps after the next five-year plan is completed, we can proudly declare that Spain has built a strong industry and economy and is a powerful country!”

Since the Spanish Cabinet election will occur in February, this means there are less than two months until the change of Cabinet.

Precisely because of this, this year’s annual summary report meeting is not only a report for the year 1873, but it also encompasses the contributions made by the Spanish Cabinet Government over five years from February 1869 to February 1874.

It is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Prim mentioned the government’s next five-year plan multiple times in the five-year plan report meeting. This also indicates one thing: Prime Minister Prim has decided to continue to run for Cabinet Prime Minister.

If he had decided not to run, Prime Minister Prim would not have talked about the next five-year plan at all. After all, the five-year plan is formulated by the Cabinet Government; if he does not run for Cabinet Prime Minister, the implementation and specific content of the second five-year plan would have nothing to do with Prime Minister Prim.

Upon learning the news that Prime Minister Prim would continue to run, many members revealed disappointed expressions, but quickly hid them.

Prime Minister Prim continuing to run is reasonable. After all, Spain has gotten on track under Prime Minister Prim’s reforms, and the second five-year plan will be simpler compared to the first one.

Prime Minister Prim, as the main contributor to the reforms, suddenly giving up the position of Cabinet Prime Minister at this moment would be the strangest thing.

It can be expected that Prime Minister Prim, with the immense prestige from the successful reforms and the rapid expansion of the Progressive Party over these five years, will easily garner the majority of votes and serve as the Prime Minister of the next Cabinet Government.

But one question is also worth pondering, which is Carlo’s growth over these five years.

In 1869, when Carlo just came to Spain, and coincidentally was still just a teenager, it was normal for him not to hold much power.

However, five years have passed, and Carlo also turned 22 this year. As a young King in his twenties, does he really have no desire for power?

The still powerful Prime Minister Prim, and Carlo, who has solidified his position on the Spanish throne, possibly seeking more demands for his own power, made many members’ expressions more complicated. Their gazes wandered back and forth between the passionate Prim announcing the plans and Carlo sitting steadily on the head seat of the meeting with a smile on his face without much other expression.