Spain’s population census in 1860: its methodological problems. The introduction of social variables to the censuses

Abstract

The production of the first modern population censuses in Spain began with relative
delay. The Spanish Statistics Commission – created in 1856 – is far from being autoindulgent
when it comes to the results of its original geodemographic works. In its first two censuses (1857 and 1860), the Commission only offered the de facto population. It did not adequately
define the concepts of economically active population and recognised its lack of credibility
regarding the exhaustiveness of the registered population. The second part of the article
studies one of the first social variables to be introduced in the census: school enrolment and
literacy. In both cases, there are marked diferences in gender as a result of the discrimination
against girls and women in education.