Chapter 714 - 331: High Birth, High Death

If it were in later times, there would be world-famous music like the "Concerto of Aranjuez" to enhance the reputation of Aranjuez. But now, the Aranjuez Palace indeed lacks presence in all of Spain, with only a few scattered Spaniards in the small town.

Such a serene environment is a great tourist spot for Carlo. The special status of the Royal Family members means this tranquil setting not only protects their privacy but also ensures that their travels do not disrupt the lives of ordinary Spaniards.

And indeed, upon arriving at Aranjuez Palace, Carlo immediately felt the tranquility and peace of this palace and the surrounding small town.

For members of the Royal Family, this is absolutely a precious environment. The little ones can play here leisurely, and Carlo can enjoy a period of relaxed and carefree life without worrying about the affairs of Spain.

Carlo is quite reassured handing over state affairs to Prime Minister Canovas. Perhaps his capabilities are not as outstanding as Prime Minister Prim, but he is more loyal to Carlo and more obedient.

After residing in the Aranjuez Palace for half a year to escape the scorching summer, Carlo returned with his family to the Madrid Royal Palace.

Although the scenery of Aranjuez Palace is indeed beautiful, Carlo cannot stay away from Madrid, the political center of Spain, for a long time.

Starting in 1886, Spain’s colonial efforts shifted from expanding territories to developing the colonies.

Massive numbers of immigrants were transported from various parts of Europe and Spain to the colonies, while some passed colonial evaluations and were moved to mainland Spain, becoming true Spaniards.

Throughout 1885, Spain’s mainland population saw a net increase of nearly 700,000 people. The most delightful aspect was the birth rate of newborns; through various level governments’ statistics, Spain had approximately 920,000 newborns in 1885, with a birth rate as high as 40‰.

Just having 920,000 newborns alone gives a glimpse of how astonishing the population growth in Spain was in 1885.

Of course, calculating population growth requires accounting for population inflow and outflow, as well as mortality rates.

Due to the poor medical technology of this era, all European countries showed characteristics of high birth rates and high mortality rates.

Especially in agricultural countries, the high global ranking in birth rates was mirrored by their equally high global ranking in mortality rates.

Spain was indeed like this before reforms and industrial revival, but after reforms and a series of medical subsidies granted by the government, Spain’s mortality rate, particularly the infant mortality rate, has shown a noticeable decrease.

According to government retrospective statistics on babies born in 1885, over 800,000 of these 920,000 newborns survived, with a survival rate as high as 87%.

Although there were still 120,000 infants who unfortunately died for various reasons, in an era with relatively backward medical technology, having nearly nine in ten babies survive was already quite remarkable.

Notably, the mortality number of Spaniards over 65 years old was even less than that of infant deaths.

The main reason is the era’s short average life expectancy, with only 3 or 4 out of 100 people being able to live beyond 60 years of age.

Due to industrial pollution and poor medical conditions, Spain’s mortality rate also reached as high as 21.7‰, with total deaths approaching 500,000.

Subtracting deaths from births, the population growth in mainland Spain was only about 420,000. Don’t focus on the fact that there were 920,000 births but only an increase of 420,000 in population; in fact, this situation looks quite impressive across Europe.

Even in other European countries with populations as high as 30 or 40 million, the net population growth may not surpass Spain’s.

The main reason is that other European countries are more industrially developed, so they have more workers. A notable feature across European countries is that agricultural countries have more population growth than industrial countries.

The main reason is farmers, besides planting, have most of their time under self-management. In other words, they could choose to spend their time outside work rather leisurefully, among which having children is an important recreational method.

But it’s different for workers. Although the income of workers is higher than that of farmers, their working hours are also longer. Plus, workers need a fixed work location, far from their hometowns, or even far from their families, to work in big cities.

This means that for workers of this era, there was no leisure time they could freely allocate, as a full day of work left them exhausted, with little mood for childbearing.

Besides the 420,000 net population growth in the mainland, Spain also saw a significant influx of immigration.

As Spain furthered its colonial expansion, many Spaniards chose to head toward the colonies to find greater business opportunities. This also resulted in more arable land per capita in Spain while its population grew.

The prosperity of the domestic economy increased the appeal for immigration; just Italy, Germany, and Austria alone provided numerous immigrants to Spain.

To reach Africa or America, these countries must pass through the Mediterranean ports and then across the Atlantic Ocean.

This means Spain became an inevitable stop for them. Many, after witnessing the local immigration benefits while staying at Spanish ports, ultimately chose to immigrate and acquire Spanish nationality.