Primary schools in eighteenth-century Spain: assessment and research perspectives

The article summarizes the most recent research findings on primary education in late eighteenth-century Spain, from a social-historical perspective. Based on data extracted from the main sources for the period - such as the Godoy Census (1797), the Ensenada Land Registry (1751) and other archival sources - evidence is provided on the numbers and geographical distribution of the schools in order to explain the factors that affected the schooling process, the social background of the pupils, their age and sex (boys' and girls' schools) and the economic barriers to school access as well as population density and school location in rural areas compared to urban and semi-urban schools. A map of the distribution of primary schools in Spain is provided, with important differences between boys' and girls' schools.