La imagen económica de la España del siglo XVII: la mirada extranjera frente a la visión de los arbitristas.

This paper compares the economic image of seventeenth-century Spain given by foreign travellers with that offered by the arbitristas, examining the principal similarities and differences. Specifically, it analyses the following issues: the consideration of the natural resources base, the vision of national character and its relation to productive activities, and the perception of the economic situation and the causes of backwardness. The aim is to contrast the views of those who were thinking 'from the inside' about the causes of the evident decline of the country, with the free and uncensored gaze of foreign visitors, who, despite the obvious constraints and limitations, tended to focus on the most striking and different aspects they found compared to the reality of their own countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]