Del desestanco del tabaco a la puesta en marcha de la Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas (1879-1890)

Abstract

The fi rst stage of the Spanish Restoration was a period of major changes in the role of the Philippines in the international context and in its relationship with Spain. The article examines one of the most signifi cant changes. This concerned what was known as “snuff” (desestanco) in the Asian archipelago and the subsequent creation of the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas. I analyze the process that led to the end of the monopoly tax on snuff, the creation of the Philippines Tobacco Company, and the processes by which a powerful private equity firm of Franco Spanish ownership was allowed to operate in the remote sphere of the Philippines. The conclusion of the article suggests how boundaries were blurred between political authority and the Spanish company in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and questions the extent to which Spanish colonialism can be considered a peculiar or exceptional case in history.