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Some of the main political and social processes taking place in Spain during the 19th century are analyzed in this article, with the intention of opening the debate on certain explanations that historians have taken for granted or have regarded as key to the evolution of modern Europe. It focuses on three dimensions of the historiography on the subject: the legacy of the “Ancien Regime” in modern societies, the formation of the nation-state during the 19th and 20th centuries, and the characteristics and implications of Europe's diverse political cultures. Spain in the 19th century was not characterized by a hybrid socio-political order. Rather, it emerged from a revolutionary liberal movement that proved strong enough to overcome the power of the monarchy. Only after the experience of the “Sexenio revolucionario” did the state confirm the validity of liberalism and recognize its influence over the Spanish masses. Finally, the author calls for scholars to approach the history of Spain with less unilateralism and more interest in the dialogue between social history and the analysis of political discourse.

This article examines an obscure custom found in Iberian ethnography: that of having one's eldest children serve as godparents for their own youngest siblings, starting with the seventh. The paper's main working hypothesis is that this custom is to be understood in the context of underlying conceptions that fairytales convey in a symbolical guise. The argument highlights the relationship of examined notions with the "Dragon Slayer" theme, to bring out stable themata concerning ontological complexity and metamorphosis, in the light of which the Iberian custom is interpreted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]