Because of the dissolution of the Catholic Monarchy, Spain transformed unpeacefully into an “imperial nation” that found an ambivalent role in the international order during the age of imperialism. On one side, Spain and the Spanish colonies. were object of the military interventions and the commercial and economic influence of several foreign powers. Conversely, as an empire of its own, intervened in other sovereign countries, waged wars overseas, sought to create its own sphere of influence, and took part in the European imperialist enterprise worldwide. This workshop will bring together a number of experts in the nineteenth century to discuss the international history of the Spanish Empire. It results from the partnership of three projects financed respectively by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación and. Interestingly, both projects focus on the origins of the international “interventionism” in the Iberian world.

Programme

Teams connection:
https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/353430966091099?p=AEKCs9y1aEPByjt5lM

8 April 2026 

Doctoral Workshop 11:00-18:30

Writing an Imperial-Scale Doctoral Thesis
Mikel Gómez Gastiasoro – U. del País Vasco

Doctoral presentations

1. Sofía Rodríguez Palomar – Universidad de Salamanca
2. Pablo Ruiz Martín – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
3. Yesabel Rodríguez Castañeda – Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
4. Felipe Sobrinos Bueno – Universidad de Alcalá de Henares
5. Irene Lin Bordas Pérez – Universidad Complutense de Madrid
6. Daniel Alejandro Varón Vásquez – Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
7. Gretel Castillo Figueroa – Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

9 April 2026

9:00
Introduction
Sagrario Aznar Almazán – Dean of the Faculty of Geography and History, UNED
Rosa Pardo – Head of the Department of Contemporary History, UNED
Andrés Vicent – Seminar organizer, Université de Genève
Rodrigo Escribano Roca – Seminar organizer, UNED

9:30
1. The End of an Empire
Comments by Juan Luis Simal – UAM

The Cádiz merchants and the reconfiguration of empires, 1790s–1830
Deborah Besseghini – Universidad Pablo Olavide

Hispanic dissonances in the Concert of Europe (1815–1822)
Rebeca Viñuela – Universidad de Alcalá de Henares

11:00
2. A New Order (1820–1830)
Comments by Raquel Sánchez – U. Complutense

José María Pando and the remnants of the Spanish empire (1814–1826)
Edward Jones Corredera – UNED

French nightmare and Portuguese dream: Spain between empire and intervention (1827)
Gonzalo Butrón – Universidad de Cádiz

Coffee break

12:45
3. From Object to Subject (1830–1850)
Comments by Florencia Peyrou – UAM

A financial humanity: intervention and the Spanish question (1833–1840)
Andrés Vicent – Université de Genève

Navigating revolutionary tides: Cuba as an imperial enclave in the Americas (1844–1865)
Ignacio García de Paso – UAM

Lunch

Coffee break

15:45
4. A New Spanish Strategy in the International Sphere (1850–1860)
Comments by Lola Elizalde – CSIC

The interventionists in the Ministry of State (1856–1868)
Rodrigo Escribano and Felipe Sobrinos – UNED / UAH

Spain in the South China Sea: the clouded horizon of a drifting empire (1830–1870)
David Martínez-Robles – U. Oberta de Catalunya

17:00
Conclusion of the first day

20:30
Dinner

10 April 2026

9:00
5. Slavery and Labor in the Spanish Atlantic
Comments by Julia Solla – UAM

An empire of three colonies (1850–1870)
Josep Maria Fradera – U. Pompeu Fabra

From Cuba to Fernando Poo: the Bubis, the Fernandinos, and the making of the Spanish Empire
Adriana Chira – Emory University

Coffee break

10:45
6. Looking Back, Looking Down (1880–1890)
Comments by Eduardo Higueras – UNED

A geo-historical chimera: Spanish imaginaries of the relationship between the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb in the context of the partition of Africa
Carlos Cañete – CSIC

The empires of Cánovas del Castillo: history and politics
Alfonso Argelich Calderón – U. de Lleida

Coffee break

12:30
7. Imperial Commodities and Agents
Comments by David Pretel – CSIC

An empire of taste: Great Britain, the wine trade, and the Iberian countries in the nineteenth century
Juan Pan-Montojo – U. Autónoma de Madrid

Foreign engineers in Spain: technological dependence, personal ventures, and national allegiance
Darina Martykánová – U. Autónoma de Madrid

Indianos: the imperial making of a new elite
José Miguel Hernández Barral – U. Complutense

Lunch

16:00
8. The Soul of Empire
Comments by Andrés Sánchez Padilla – UC3M

From imperial decline to Marian dogma: Catholic identity in nineteenth-century Spain
Joseba Louzao – C. U. Cisneros / U. de A. de Henares

Praise and censure of the Spanish Philippines in 1898: imperial interest and moral concern
Laura Díaz Esteve – CSIC

17:30
Conclusion

 Scientific Committee

• Andrés Vicent – Université de Genève

• Rodrigo Escribano Roca – UNED

• Adriana Chira (Emory University)
•  

• Rebeca Viñuela – Universidad de Alcalá de Henares

• Eduardo Jones Corredera – UNED

• Convenors

  • Andrés Vicent Fanconi – Université de Genève
    (SNSF Ambizione Project 216048)

  • Rodrigo Escribano Roca – UNED
    (UAI–FONDECYT 1240232)