Chapter 724 - 335: 1889_2

For Spain, such an issue is inevitable. Originally, the population gap between these two cities and other small and medium-sized cities was already large. With Carlo becoming the King of Spain for the past decade or two, the development rate of these two cities has left others in the dust, ultimately leading to the twin star cities having an ever-increasing population, while other cities’ population growth rates evidently cannot keep up with Madrid and Barcelona.

In the short term, the larger the population of the twin star cities, the more beneficial it is for Spain. The Barcelona Industrial Base offers hundreds of thousands of jobs, yet Barcelona only has 880,000 residents, which is clearly quite unreasonable.

Currently, many people work in Barcelona but are not permanent residents of the city. These individuals will eventually have many reasons to choose to join Barcelona’s household registry, after all, this is where they work, and they are most likely to settle here in the future.

It is only natural for Madrid, as the capital of Spain, to attract a large number of immigrants. In the vast majority of countries worldwide, the capital is generally the largest city in the country.

Unless there are geographical or other factors at play, the development of the capital is definitely among the best, if not outright leading, among all of the country’s cities.

Indeed, Madrid faces some geographical issues, making it nearly impossible to become a city like London or Paris with millions of people.

The Cabinet Government and the Madrid government have their plans for the capital’s development, aiming to slow down Madrid’s population growth rate in the future, keeping the total population around 1.5 million; any more would cause traffic congestion.

This also means that within the next 10-20 years, Barcelona will surpass Madrid to become the most populous city in Spain.

Considering Barcelona’s industrial base and its geographical advantage by the sea, Barcelona may not only surpass Madrid in terms of population but will also comprehensively surpass Madrid in industry and economy.

Of course, no matter how developed Barcelona becomes, it will never be Spain’s capital; only Madrid can be. Madrid is situated at the center of the entire Iberian Peninsula, making its geographical position extremely important.

Even if future annexations of Portugal or Morocco occur, Carlo would not consider relocating the capital.

It is worth mentioning that the current Mayor of Barcelona has already changed. Baron Angelo Orcaho, whom Carlo has always favored, served as the district chief of the Barcelona Industrial Zone for nearly 10 years before Carlo eventually promoted him to become the Mayor of Barcelona.

The population boom in Barcelona also took place during his tenure. Over the few years since becoming the Mayor of Barcelona, the city’s population has increased by nearly 200,000, an outstanding political achievement.

If it weren’t for the Cabinet elections being far off, Carlo might have even considered promoting Baron Angelo to Minister of Industry or another Cabinet Minister role for him to gain better growth and experience within the Cabinet Government.

For Carlo, Baron Angelo is a potential candidate for the next Prime Minister.

He comes from a noble background, so his loyalty to the Royal Family can be assured. More importantly, Baron Angelo Orcaho’s family has long since fallen, meaning he is no longer a member of the traditional nobility.

Carlo is already considering bestowing him with an Earldom, both to commend his political achievements in the industrial zone and Barcelona, and also to elevate him as a member of the new nobility, thereby completely severing his connection from the old noble forces.

The old nobility, because they own large tracts of land, tend to have more conservative views, and their loyalty to the Royal Family is not as high as imagined.

After all, Carlo, the king, is an outsider; it would be surprising if these local nobles were highly loyal to a foreign king.

But the new nobility is different. Though the issue of a foreign king still exists, because these new nobles were promoted personally by Carlo, their loyalty to Carlo is higher and more trustworthy.

More importantly, because the new nobility does not have much land or other traditional assets, their ideas and strategies are not as conservative, making them more suitable for Carlo’s ruling phase in Spain.

Although the Conservative Party currently occupies half of the Spanish Parliament, Carlo has not completely abolished the Liberal and Progressive Parties, partly because Carlo is reluctant for the Conservative Party to have full control.

The Conservative Party strengthens royal power, but for an emerging Spain, complete control by the Conservative Party may not necessarily be a good thing.

Compared to the relatively conservative Prime Minister Canovas, Baron Angelo, after undergoing certain training, may be able to become a more outstanding Prime Minister.

The reason Carlo is searching for a candidate for the next Prime Minister is actually because of Prime Minister Canovas’ aging.

Currently, the cooperation between Carlo and Prime Minister Canovas is quite smooth. Since Count Canovas became Prime Minister in 1872, Carlo has truly gained the power of a king and has continually deepened the reforms unfinished by Prime Minister Prim.

Now, 11 years have gone by, and Prime Minister Canovas holds a high-ranking and influential position in Spain.

But no matter how much Carlo trusts him, the traditions set by the constitution cannot be broken.

For Prime Minister Canovas, after this Cabinet Prime Minister’s term ends, he will not have the opportunity to wait for the election of the Prime Minister the term after next.

The current Prime Minister’s term still has three years left, plus a five-year term for the interim Prime Minister in between, that’s a total of eight years.

Prime Minister Canovas was born in 1828 and is already 61 years old this year. If we wait another eight years, he will be 69. Even if he could be elected as the Cabinet Prime Minister by then, what energy would he have at that age to handle the numerous government affairs?

While conducting government-related reforms, Carlo also continuously emphasizes the necessity of having younger government officials at all levels.

For Spain and Carlo, the future of Spain does not need a 69-year-old Prime Minister.

This also means one thing: when Prime Minister Canovas’ term ends, Carlo must select a trusted official to be the new Cabinet Government’s Prime Minister.

Besides gaining Carlo’s trust, this official must also possess certain abilities. Clearly, Baron Angelo Orcaho is a very suitable candidate.

Of course, aside from him, Carlo also has backup candidates.

The current Minister of Industry, Hoviar Soler, is a member of the Conservative Party and nobility, and Carlo trusts his loyalty greatly as well.

However, compared to Baron Angelo and Prime Minister Canovas, Hoviar Soler’s abilities are somewhat weaker.

Nevertheless, Minister Hoviar Soler has high prestige within the Conservative Party, making him a good fallback option if Baron Angelo cannot smoothly assume the Prime Minister’s position.

Besides Minister Hoviar Soler, the current Minister of Defense, Evan Bradley, is another choice.

Evan Bradley is suited to play the role of Duke Serrano, namely being the nominal Prime Minister, to control the government and stabilize the situation in the short term.

Evan Bradley has served three consecutive terms as the Cabinet Government’s Minister of Defense and has gained extremely high prestige within the military, making it no problem for him to control the government in the short term.

Moreover, Minister Evan Bradley’s loyalty is exceedingly high, which is another trustworthy choice for Carlo.

From these backup candidates, one can see Carlo’s attitude in selecting the Prime Minister of Spain, which prioritizes loyalty over ability.

After all, Spain’s development is controlled by Carlo, making the Prime Minister’s ability not as crucial. Instead, ensuring the Prime Minister’s loyalty to Carlo is essential for stabilizing Spain’s situation.

Carlo certainly doesn’t want to encounter an ambitious Prime Minister. This could threaten Carlo’s royal power and also affect the reforms and developments Carlo has painstakingly planned in Spain for a long time.

For Carlo, unless an extremely capable and uniquely visionary Prime Minister emerges, Carlo will not significantly delegate power.

The Prime Minister of Spain will have a certain degree of power, but this power cannot interfere with royal power. In Carlo’s reign, the division of power between the monarchy and the prime ministership has always been like this.

Only in Carlo’s later years will he consider redistributing power, to prevent less capable successors from leading the entire country into the abyss, and only then will royal power be diminished.