DOCUMENTS DE TREBALL DE LA DIVISIÓ DE CIÈNCIES JURÍDIQUES ECONÒMIQUES I SOCIALS Col·lecció d’Economia Foreign Trade Traps in the European Periphery: Spain, 1870-1913* Alfonso Herranz and Daniel A. Tirado Adreça de correspondència: Departament d'Història i Institucions Econòmiques Universitat de Barcelona Diagonal 690 08034 Barcelona Recepció document: Juliol 1996 * This research has benefitted from the financial support provided by the Jaume Bofill Foundation for the project "Institutional change and development in the European periphery: the Mediterranian, Scandinavia and the East" and also has been partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, PB 94-0853. We gratefully acknowledge the suggestions received from the following persons: Albert Carreras, Jordi Catalan, Giovanni Federico, Domingo Gallego, Miquel Gutiérrez, Angus Maddison, Vicente Pinilla, Josep Lluís Raymond, Ramon Ramon, Marcela Sabaté, Andreu Sanso, Carles Sudrià, Jordi Suriñach and an anonimous referee. The insufficiencies of this article are our exclusive responsibility.