Empire Rising: Spain

Under the large financial investment of the Spanish Government, the West Africa development plan is progressing quite smoothly, with railway construction and immigration work advancing methodically.

In the last two to three months of the year, Spain managed to immigrate over 50,000 people from the mainland and other regions to the three West Africa Colonies. This level of immigration is unprecedented for Spain.

At the rate of 50,000 immigrants over 3 months, the three West Africa Colonies can receive a total of about 200,000 immigrants annually, which is one-fifth of the total population of the Cuban Colony.

In terms of population, it would only take Spain five years to recreate another Cuban Colony. With so many immigrants in the three West Africa Colonies, construction is sure to be quite successful.

The transfer of over 50,000 immigrants in less than 3 months was due to collective effort and coordination.

Firstly, from the Cuban side, the number of Cubans willing to move to other Spanish colonies is in the thousands.

Though compared to Cuba’s total population this is less than one percent, the Spanish Government would not consider thousands of people to be too few.

Before transferring the Cuban Colony, the colonial government had relocated these thousands of people to the South Morocco Colony, then from the South Morocco Colony to the three West Africa Colonies.

For these Cubans willing to move to other Spanish colonies, Carlo was quite generous. Those who wanted to become plantation owners could receive land from Spain, and they would also be provided with low-cost local indigenous labor to help them cultivate land and build plantations.

As for those less inclined towards agriculture, they could build a small workshop in the colonies. The Royal United Bank and the Spanish National Bank would be stationed in all Spanish colonies and would offer support and encouragement policies to these immigrant families.

The population of Cuba is one aspect, and the other is the indigenous population of various Spanish colonies. With Spain’s progress in assimilating Moroccans, a significant portion of the South Morocco Colony population has already acquired basic Spanish proficiency, and many have converted to Catholicism.

Regardless of whether their conversion to Catholicism is genuine, they have no authority to refuse decisions made by the Spanish Government.

The population of Southern Morocco has dropped to less than 500,000. Besides some extreme Muslims who died from labor, most of the population loss was due to Spain’s immigration policy.

Since the establishment of the South Morocco Colony, Spain has introduced at least 300,000 immigrants into the Moroccan region.

The destinations for these immigrants are quite diverse, with some relocated to mainland Spain and others to other Spanish colonies.

Among the 50,000 immigrants to the three West Africa Colonies, nearly 20,000 are Moroccans.

The rest of the immigrants mostly come from the Congo Territory and Guinea Colony, with several thousand from mainland Spain.

The reason for the active immigration of Spaniards is not due to their inability to live in Spain, but because the Spanish Government’s immigration policies are too attractive.

The combined area of the three West Africa Colonies is quite large, particularly the Gambia Colony, which is well-suited for agricultural development.

The colonial affairs department has issued various incentivizing immigration policies tailored to the conditions of the West Africa Colonies, including free land, agricultural tax reductions, free tickets, and low-interest loans.

Especially the Spanish nobles are very interested in establishing plantations.

A feature of this era is that mechanized agriculture is still in its early stages globally, and most countries still rely on small-scale farming.

Moreover, due to immature fertilizer technology, global food production is not very high, and few countries, aside from those with vast plains, can achieve self-sufficiency in food.

Even in countries with relatively high food production, starvation deaths from insufficient food intake still occur.

Spain fares relatively well in this regard, as the abolition of various miscellaneous taxes and reduced land rents allow farmers to leave enough grain for themselves.

Across Europe, owing to insufficient food production in many countries, international grain prices remain relatively high.

After entering a period of peace, European countries will witness a population boom.

During this period, grain prices will only rise, which is why Spanish nobles are keen on farming.

Of course, they are not just growing grains. Vegetables, fruits, olives, grapes, and other crops are also cultivated on Spanish noble plantations.

In summary, Spanish nobles will plant whatever is profitable. If they are unsure what is profitable, they will plant all grains since there’s no worry about selling food.

It’s worth mentioning that Spain is a main exporter of agricultural products in Europe, and simultaneously a major grain importer.

These two roles don’t conflict. Spain’s position as a leading exporter of agricultural products comes from its production of vegetables and fruits.

This includes olives for oil production and grapes for wine-making, which are fruits and also some of Spain’s main agricultural products.

Spain is Europe’s largest olive producer, as well as a leading grape and wine producer. Each year, Spain exports a large quantity of agricultural products and uses the proceeds to purchase extensive grain supplies.