2. The Spanish background: Krausists and Social Catholics
The origins of the Spanish regime of welfare provision are rooted in the governmental
reforms put forward at the turn of the 19th century under the auspices of some middleclass
intellectuals, most of them social Catholics and "neo-liberal" krausistas (1
). These
two groups played a significant role in the subsequent creation of the Instituto Nacional
de Previsión Social in 1908, the pioneering institution of the future Spanish social
welfare system.
These early Spanish "neo-liberals" were largely influenced by the ideas of the German
philosopher C.G.F Krause, who advocated ideas of "harmonic rationalism". These were
based on a programme of promoting a mutually beneficial coexistence of the social and
economic classes which would constitute an alternative to traditional conservatism,
laissez-faire, Catholic corporatism, and revolutionary collectivism. The krausistas
agreed with Social Catholics on supporting social reforms and social intervention by the
state, although they disagreed on priorities and on issues pertaining to the religious
sphere.
Spanish "neo-liberals" believed that the main cause of poverty in Spain was its cultural
and economic backwardness. According to this view, Spain should improve its
economic structures, and in order to achieve such a goal, its human capital should be
educated and trained to compete with other countries in the international trade arena;
otherwise, misery and social chaos would take over Spanish society. For the krausistas
the main obstacle to Spanish modernization was the tight control exerted by the
Catholic Church over people's behaviour and expectations. Thus, education should be
secular and focussed mainly on technical knowledge. Accordingly, traditional charity