Using an original microeconomic database with information for around 200,000 individuals, this paper creates new estimates of internal migrations in Spain in a key moment of its economic history. Our analysis shows that internal migrations were not a linear process including both periods of stagnation and also rapid growth, and that the 1850s were a decade of surprising high mobility in the absence of modern transportation. We also conclude that the rise in mobility was geographically asymmetrical with traditional urban centres losing ground against the rise of Madrid and Barcelona. The modernisation of the country also had significant social impacts with the migratory gender gap being significantly reduced prior to 1870. An analysis of the determinants of internal migrations suggests that traditional push and pull factors described by the literature in the early twentieth century seem to be also behind the early migrations of the mid-nineteenth century. The modernisation of the country provided new opportunities in urban areas that, combined with falling transport and information costs, created the perfect conditions for the ‘democratisation’ of long-distance migrations.

本文使用原始的微观经济数据库，其中包含大约200,000个人的信息，从而在西班牙经济史上的关键时刻为西班牙的内部移民提供了新的估计。我们的分析表明，内部迁徙既不是停滞期，也不是快速增长，而是一个线性过程，并且1850年代是在没有现代交通的情况下令人惊讶的高流动性的十年。我们还得出结论，流动性的增长在地理上是不对称的，传统的城市中心在马德里和巴塞罗那的崛起中逐渐失落。该国的现代化进程也对社会产生了重大影响，1870年以前，流动性性别差距大大缩小。对内部迁徙决定因素的分析表明，文献在20世纪初描述的传统推拉因素似乎也落后于19世纪中叶的早期迁徙。该国的现代化为城市地区提供了新的机会，再加上运输和信息成本的下降，为长距离移民的“民主化”创造了理想条件。