Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 365 Population and Economic Development

Judging from the fact that the cola industry brings a net income of 3700 million pesetas to the royal family every year, it can be seen that the current Spanish royal family is really rich.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Spanish royal family is as rich as a country. Although its income is not as high as that of the great powers, it is at least among the top five when compared with the income of non-great powers.

As time came to the end of 1892, Lorenzo reported to Carlo the estimated total income of the Spanish royal family for the whole year.

The total income of all the Spanish royal family's industries reached 3.87 million pesetas, equivalent to 1548 million pounds.

The most profitable company among them is the Royal United Bank of Spain, whose annual profit has exceeded 7200 million pesetas, making it the leading company with the largest assets and the highest revenue among all Spanish companies.

Royal Benz followed closely behind.

After more than a decade of development, the automotive industry has undergone tremendous changes.

The most obvious is the reduction in the price of cars. When cars were first invented, each car cost as much as 1.2 pesetas.

This also resulted in the car's selling price having to be raised to 1.5 pesetas. After all, car factories need a steady stream of income to expand production and develop new technologies and related technologies.

After ten years of development, the cost of each car has dropped significantly under the assembly line production model.

Currently, the cost of cars produced in Spain has been controlled at around 4200 pesetas, which is less than one-third of the original cost.

Thanks to extremely low manufacturing costs, the current selling price of each car in the Spanish market has dropped to around 6500 pesetas.

Although the price is still relatively high for most civilians, cars are no longer exclusive to the rich. Many middle-class people can buy a car of their own after working hard.

Of course, civilian families can also wait a little longer.

Because the current car prices are still falling, and the average annual income in Spain is growing. One day, ordinary people can also afford cars, and this day is not far away.

So far, the total sales of Mercedes-Benz cars launched by Mercedes-Benz have exceeded 30 units and are moving towards the milestone of 50 units.

As the economies of various countries gradually prosper, car sales are also increasing, which is why Royal Mercedes-Benz's revenue is quite stable.

In the Spanish market alone, thousands of cars are sold each year. Based on the current net profit of 2300 pesetas per car, the Spanish market brings Royal Mercedes-Benz nearly million pesetas in revenue.

In addition to being responsible for sales in the Spanish market, Royal Mercedes-Benz is also responsible for sales in Russia, Portugal and some small and medium-sized European countries.

The combined sales in these countries bring in nearly 10 million pesetas in revenue each year.

Together with the sales of branches established in powerful countries, Royal Benz Automobile Company's total annual revenue is as high as 6500 million pesetas, and the revenue is still growing.

The combined revenues of the Royal Union Bank and Royal Benz alone amounted to 1.37 million pesetas.

This also shows how much money monopoly enterprises make. It is no exaggeration to say that the money comes from the wind.

The Spanish royal family is so rich because they have achieved monopoly in many industries. However, Carlo is not a capitalist in the true sense. While the royal family's enterprises make money, they also return part of the profits to the workers and the people.

The reason why Spain's per capita annual income continues to grow is closely related to the continuous growth in income of employees of royal enterprises.

As of the beginning of this year, Spain's per capita annual income was around 248 pesetas. This income level seems relatively low, mainly because a large number of farmers in Spain have lowered the average income.

The annual income of the working group has exceeded 320 pesetas, and the average annual income of most employees of royal enterprises is as high as over 360 pesetas. This is why most Spaniards are willing to join royal enterprises.

This is just for ordinary workers. For those excellent technical workers, they can get an annual income of hundreds or even thousands of pesetas in any factory.

Some outstanding technical workers of Royal Mercedes-Benz have an average income of 860 pesetas, which is several times the current per capita income in Spain.

One thing that can also be seen from this aspect is that the per capita annual income statistics of the Spanish government are not accurate and may be lower than the actual level.

This is indeed the case. Spain has tens of millions of farmers, and their income is difficult to estimate.

Their income is not only related to the grain output of the year, but also to the grain price of the year. The sale of grain also depends on the willingness of these farmers. It is precisely these uncountable farmers that keep the per capita annual income of the Spanish government at a low level.

If only the working class is counted, Spain's per capita annual income would increase to more than 350 pesetas, and no more.

Although the per capita annual income statistics of the government are not accurate, it is still possible to determine the people who need poverty subsidies based on the current per capita annual income.

The royal family spends tens of millions of pesetas every year just to provide subsidies to the poor. Carlo also asked the Royal Security Intelligence Agency to monitor the whereabouts of the subsidies to ensure that the money really reaches the hands of those who need them.

Thanks to the royal family's subsidies to the poor and the prosperity of Spain's local economy, the living standards of the Spaniards have become better and better. Having enough food and clothing is no longer a fantasy, but a reality that most civilian families can achieve.

There are even some families that have gotten rid of their material needs. Compared with material things, they care more about spiritual enjoyment.

To put it simply, these people's pursuits have changed from simple eating, drinking, defecating and urinating to fun and enjoyment, including traveling and watching bullfighting competitions.

Madrid and Barcelona welcome a large number of tourists every year. These two thriving twin cities are where most Spaniards dream of visiting.

In addition to these two large metropolises, the most popular among Spaniards are cities and attractions with diverse scenery.

Spain still has many beautiful coastlines, which are very popular among Spaniards and attract a large number of tourists every summer.

Thanks to the vigorous construction of the transportation sector, the traffic environment in Spain is much better than before.

The railways connect not only the state capitals, but also all cities of a certain size.

In addition to railways, roads were also built in all cities in Spain. With such a complete transportation system, the population mobility of the Spanish people reached an unprecedented high.

Of course, only Madrid and Barcelona can enjoy the benefits of population mobility.

If the cabinet had not decided to limit the population of Madrid after discussion, the population of Madrid would probably have reached 150 million by now.

Even after the population limit, Madrid's population is still as high as 120 million, making it the undisputed first city in Spain. Barcelona has also been catching up madly in recent years and has now become the second city in Spain with a population of over one million.

Compared to Madrid, where the population is limited, Barcelona's population development is unrestricted.

This also makes the development plan of the Barcelona city government very large. They plan to surpass Madrid in the next five years and become the industrial center, economic center and shipping center of Spain.

According to Barcelona's current population growth trend, Barcelona's population is expected to surpass Madrid in three years, not to mention five years.

Of course, no matter how Barcelona develops, it can never replace the importance of Madrid as the capital.

Madrid is located in the center of the entire Iberian Peninsula. Regardless of whether Spain will annex Portugal in the future, Madrid is the most important city on the Iberian Peninsula in strategic terms.

Even though Barcelona's industry and economy are highly developed, it is still the second most important city after Madrid.

However, there is no need for Barcelona and Madrid to compete with each other. Both are special cities in Spain, and there is no conflict in their development. They can even go hand in hand.

After these two cities, the third most populous city in Spain is Seville, the capital of Andalusia.

Although Andalusia has the largest population of all Spanish state-level administrative divisions, Seville, as its capital city, has a population of just over 40.

Fortunately, the population size of other cities in Spain is also very limited. Although there is no hope of catching up with Madrid and Barcelona, ​​it is still no problem for them to maintain their third position.

When trams were first introduced, the Spanish government planned to open trams in some larger cities.

But after trials in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the government quickly scrapped the idea.

It is quite difficult for this kind of public welfare public transportation to make a profit.

Currently, Madrid and Barcelona are both megacities with a population of over one million. The trams in these two cities cannot make a profit, let alone other cities.

Because of this, currently only Madrid and Barcelona have trams in operation in the whole of Spain.

Seville may be the third, but at least in the short term, there is no hope of Seville having a tram.

As time came to the end of 1892, according to data reported by the Spanish government, the total population of Spain reached 2860 million.

In the past decade, Spain's annual population growth has been quite stable, with the total population growth in the decade exceeding 800 million.

At this rate of population growth, it is estimated that Spain's total population will reach more than 1895 million by 3000.

3000 million people is not a small number in the whole of Europe. As long as the population can reach 3000 million, there will not be much disadvantage compared to other European powers whether it is participating in wars or developing itself in the future.

If the Hispanic immigrants living in the colonies are included, Spain's total population would exceed 2900 million.

However, the government will ignore these colonial immigrants in its statistics and only count the local population data, which can also reduce the pressure brought by statistics.

So far, the population statistics of various countries can only be accurate to the ten thousandth person. As for smaller numbers, it is impossible to accurately count them.

This also leads to large errors in population statistics, and there is no accurate number at all.

Fortunately, Spain's population statistics are relatively accurate, and the general population error will not exceed 10,000 people. The main impact is caused by the death and immigration population.

1892 was an extremely important year for Spain.

This year not only saw a substantial increase in population, but also rapid development in industry.

Around 1890, Spain's annual steel production was only 52.1 tons, which was quite good at the time.

According to the steel production data released by various governments at the time, Spain's steel production ranked fifth in the world, second only to the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France, and on the same level as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Two years later, in 1892, Spain's steel production reached 72.13 tons.

Although this steel production still ranks fifth in the world, it has widened the gap with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is not far behind France's steel production.

Currently, Spain's total industrial scale is roughly in the fifth range in the world, slightly ahead of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and slightly behind France.

This is also the result of Spain's development over the past 20 years. The shipbuilding plan also effectively promoted the growth of steel production. After all, the steel armor on the battleships is all made of real steel.

A battleship weighs tens of thousands of tons, which means tens of thousands of tons of steel.

The battleships built by the naval shipyard alone have led to a significant increase in Spain's steel production.

Not to mention the impact on other industries, which is why Spain's economy has not been affected while its industry has grown rapidly.

Spain's steel production growth is based on domestic demand rather than blind growth.

Although this on-demand production method slowed down the rapid growth of steel production, it also made Spain's economy very stable.

Even if there is another economic crisis, the impact on Spain will not be too great.

After all, Spain's industrial construction is steady and the stock market will review companies that apply for listing and will not allow those shell subsidiaries to go public so easily.

The Spanish stock market is popular with industrial enterprises with assets or financial enterprises with official nature.

Such enterprises are more capable of withstanding economic crises and are less likely to go bankrupt during an economic crisis.

Coupled with the help of the Spanish government, it can be said that Spain is not afraid of an economic crisis at present, and an economic crisis is unlikely to break out in Spain.

The economic crisis that spread to Spain from other countries was just a simple test for all kinds of Spanish companies.

(End of this chapter)