Empire Rising: Spain

March 27, 1879, eight in the morning, Barcelona Stock Exchange.

It was originally just an ordinary day, but at this moment, the Barcelona Stock Exchange was already packed with people.

The reason these investors came to the stock exchange early in the morning was naturally the Spanish Government’s announcement of a brand-new third five-year development plan yesterday.

Although the government’s development plan was not detailed, it did mention construction in the industrial and railway sectors. Investors had anticipated this, and the reason they came to the stock exchange early was precisely to buy shares of the Spanish Railway Company.

Unlike other European countries, Spain was not severely troubled by the economic crisis, which also gave Spanish investors great confidence in the stock market.

With the emphasis on railway construction in Spain’s two previous five-year development plans, several large railway companies were born in Spain, the most famous being the Spanish National Railway Company and the Spanish Royal Railway Company.

These two railway companies with official backgrounds became the main force in Spain’s railway construction. Beneath them were a large number of privately-backed railway companies, equally contributing to the development of Spain’s railways.

Among these queues, many had already tasted success from the last five-year development plan. After the last development plan was issued, the stock of the Spanish Railway Company skyrocketed, and those who purchased shares made substantial profits.

Coincidentally, the backdrop for the last five-year development plan was the rampant economic crisis in Europe, causing many to refrain from buying shares out of fear of the crisis.

Now that the economic crisis had almost ended, and with the Spanish Government announcing another five-year development plan, investors could no longer sit still. They scrambled to buy shares of the railway companies, or at least related industries, to claim a slice of the stock market pie.

Most of those in line were ordinary people, but there were also many nobles and capitalists dressed in luxurious clothing.

Unfortunately, because the crowd had completely blocked the entrance to the stock exchange, these nobles and capitalists also had to queue because they simply couldn’t get in.

”Damn, why are there so many people today?” Among the large, crowded crowd, a middle-aged man in luxurious attire stuck his head out of a carriage, grumbling.

He was a noble, able to take a carriage here. But the problem was, the road in front of the stock exchange was completely blocked, and the carriage was now stuck.

The nobleman was unwilling to stay with the commoners, so he muttered a few curses and shrank back into the carriage.

”No choice, the government announced the five-year development plan yesterday. These people are like cats that smell fish, all wanting a bite of the fish. The question is, how many here are the real fish?” Another man in the carriage, also dressed in luxurious attire, laughed and said. Despite the crowd, he seemed unconcerned, appearing rather cheerful.

”Humph! Only we nobles can make money in the stock market. These damned commoners can’t handle even a tiny wave; they’ll eventually drown in the sea of the stock market,” the grumbling noble nodded in agreement and stopped complaining.

There were plenty of carriages stuck in the crowd, and nobles or capitalists in luxurious clothes were not rare.

In fact, it was true. Most of those stuck on the road were nobles without much status or power, maybe even just a poor baron.

These people had no special privileges, and even if dissatisfied, they had to obediently queue with the commoners.

Those with true power, or rather those with some influence, had already entered before the stock exchange opened and were respectfully invited to the VIP trading room on the second floor.

Due to the crowd being too congested, the Barcelona City Government deployed a large number of police officers to maintain order. As Spain’s second-largest city, Barcelona’s security forces were quite adequate.

With these police patrolling back and forth among the crowd, they could prevent some acts of violence and crime from occurring.

After all, the more people there are, the more chaotic the order becomes. In this era without surveillance cameras, theft and robbery were not uncommon during such crowded times.

Some even took the opportunity to grope, and as long as they weren’t caught, it was unlikely anything would happen.

With a large police presence, they effectively prevented such incidents from occurring. Carlo placed a high emphasis on Spain’s public order, leading to the security department imposing heavy penalties on unlawful acts.

Even minor disturbances of public order could result in fines of varying amounts, and sometimes even mandatory detention for a period.

Such laws might seem harsh, but they effectively reduced Spain’s crime rate. In Madrid and Barcelona, the crime rate had been reduced to a level entirely acceptable to the public.

About a few minutes later, the doors of the stock exchange officially opened.

People did not rush inside the stock exchange, as there were many police maintaining order at the entrance. The stock exchange wasn’t very large, which meant only a part of the crowd could enter at a time, and they had to queue to get in.