Urban Society and the Emergence of Modernity in Spain, 1900-1936

Abstract

The period (1900-1936) especially interesting due to the acceleration of urban growth and socio-economic transformation by the combined effects of the Second Industrial Revolution, the rise of consumerism and mass culture and the aftermath of the Great War. All these phenomena played a significant role in the changes observed in demographic patterns, urban planning, urban economies, labour markets, lifestyles and social, political and cultural behaviours all around Spain. However, the leadership of this evolution was represented by large cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. The advent of Modernity altered their social, cultural and political developing lines and caused the emergence of new social and political actors and new habits. During the Roaring Twenties, electricity, telephone, automobile, cinema, press, radio, sports, fashion and advertising became the fullest expressions of the transformation experienced by urban societies.