ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Bullanga, Barcelona 1835

Synopsis
On 25 July 1835, two years after the start of the First Carlist War, the news that a Carlist group had tortured and murdered some liberal militiamen provoked a riot in Barcelona, known as “bullanga”. The mob stormed a dozen convents under the passive gaze of the army. Tax collection booths were also destroyed and a statue of Philip VII was pulled down. On 5 August, General Bassa, who had entered Barcelona to try to restore order, was killed by the mob. This riot was not only the result of the anti-clerical sentiment that had taken hold in Spanish society, but was also the result of the economic and social imbalances caused by the liberal reforms and industrialisation, which affected artisans and small shopkeepers. Not surprisingly, on 5 and 6 August 1835, popular violence took on a workerist tone and factories, such as the Vapor Bonaplata, were attacked with the aim of destroying machinery. This led the liberals to withdraw their support for the crowd and to agree with the authorities to suppress it. In Barcelona, 7 people were sentenced to death. The violence, however, spread to other cities in Catalonia, where 67 clergymen were killed. The Bullangas was therefore a cycle of protest and popular riots that shook Catalonia for about eight years, being the last one the Jamancia in Barcelona (1843).
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 14 days. Name in sources: Bullanga. Location: Barcelona Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Artisans, Local elites, Workers. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Economic, Political, Religion. Leadership: Unknown. Relevance: medium.

Further reading
FONTANA LÁZARO, Josep (2001). La revolución liberal: política y hacienda en 1833-1845. Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Fiscales. MOLINER PRADA, Antonio (1998). El anticlericalismo español contemporáneo. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva. ROCA VERNET, Jordi (2021). La bullanga de Barcelona. 25 de juliol de 1835. Barcelona: Rosa dels Vents.
Cite this entry

Gracia-Arnau, Ivan (2023). "Bullanga, Barcelona 1835", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. http://atlas.cidehusdigital.uevora.pt/revolt/bullanga-barcelona-1835/ (accessed on 22 Fevereiro 2023).