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Diario Euskadi

The 1876 Law Led to the Disappearance of Foral Councils and the Birth of the Economic Agreement

This legislation, while initially weakening the foral system, laid the groundwork for a special status for the Basque provinces.

Generic image: An old legal document with elegant calligraphy and historical light.
IA

Generic image: An old legal document with elegant calligraphy and historical light.

The Law of July 21, 1876, although initially weakening the foral system, laid the groundwork for a special status for the provinces of Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Álava through the Economic Agreement.

In the history of the Basque Country, the Law of July 21, 1876, is remembered as the norm that abolished the foral system. This law broke two central points of the foral regime: military exemption and the peculiar fiscal situation. However, it also opened the door to a new era in which foral institutions (General Assemblies and Foral Councils) disappeared.
Article 1 of the law clearly stated that constitutional duties had always been military service and contributing to state expenses. These duties, this “constitutional unity,” were to be extended to the provinces of Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, and Álava. Thus, Article 2 extended the obligation to provide quotas of men to the three provinces, and Article 3, the obligation to pay contributions, rents, and taxes.
Article 4 of the law authorized the government to agree with the provinces on necessary reforms to their foral regime. These latter articles truly paved the way for the Economic Agreement. The law did not use the term “abolition” or “elimination,” but it emphasized that changes to the foral system would be introduced by the government itself, not by the foral institutions.
At that time, the country was militarily occupied, governed by a state of siege, and without constitutional guarantees, making resistance to the law's application more rhetorical than effective. Antonio Cánovas, the President of the Government, did not allow the Foral Councils to escape his provisions.
On May 5, 1877, the Bizkaia Foral Institutions were dissolved, and on May 14, a new Interim Council was appointed. The Foral Councils of Gipuzkoa and Álava initially refused to comply with the decree, but eventually, on December 6 and 10, 1877, respectively, new provincial councils were established. This allowed for a quick understanding with Cánovas, leading to the Economic Agreement.
On February 28, 1878, the Royal Decree was approved, establishing a quota for several years, up to eight, in the main state contributions. This decree became known as the Economic Agreement and has been renewed successively to this day. Thus, the foral abolition was a process that began in 1839 and culminated between 1876 and 1877 with the creation of the Economic Agreement.

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