Juan Álvarez Mendizábal

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Juan Álvarez Mendizábal" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2017) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (March 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Juan Álvarez Mendizábal]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Juan Álvarez Mendizábal}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Most Excellent Juan Álvarez Mendizábal
Prime Minister of Spain
In office 25 September 1835 – 15 May 1836
Monarch	Isabella II
Preceded by	José María Queipo de Llano
Succeeded by	Francisco Javier de Istúriz
Personal details
Born	25 February 1790 (1790-02-25) Chiclana de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
Died	3 November 1853(1853-11-03) (aged 63) Madrid, Spain
Resting place	Pantheon of Illustrious Men
Political party	Partido Progresista

Juan Álvarez Mendizábal (born Juan Álvarez Méndez; 25 February 1790 – 3 November 1853) was a Spanish economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 25 September 1835 to 15 May 1836.

He was born to Rafael Álvarez Montañés, a cloth merchant, and Margarita Méndez, of converso origin.^[1] He was given training in banking, first working in a bank and then in the military administration during the Peninsular War. At the time he became a member of "Taller Sublime", a Cádiz masonic lodge.^{[citation needed]}

In 1820, he was appointed military supplier of the troops that Ferdinand VII had sent to America to suppress the revolts. Taking advantage of this situation he financed Rafael del Riego's military uprising. During the Trienio liberal Mendizábal renounced to the Public Administration, although he had actively participated in the revolts against absolutism.

When Ferdinand VII renounced the Constitution of 1812 and restored his absolute power in 1823, Mendizábal and many other revolutionary liberals went into exile: in the United Kingdom he opened a trade business.

In 1835, under José María Queipo de Llano's presidency, he was appointed Minister of the Treasury. On 14 September he succeeded Queipo de Llano, keeping the Treasury portfolio during a delicate economic situation due to the First Carlist War's military expenses. Queen Regent Maria Christina thought a liberal prime minister would hold the rebellions. Mendizábal's political program included the Desamortización Eclesiástica ("Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal"), the immediate end to the Carlist war and the elimination of the public debt.^{[citation needed]}

The Liberal movement, the Queen Regent and Mendizábal were supported by the new owners of the confiscated properties, though the measures only benefited the big land tycoons. The impossibility of ending the Carlist revolts forced Mendizábal's resignation in 1836. A few months later a revolt in La Granja made the Queen accept a radical government and the restoration of the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Mendizábal was appointed Minister of Finance and a series of revolutionary measures were taken: the abolition of tithe and señoríos, freedom of the press, confiscation of the Church properties). In 1837 a more moderate government was elected. Mendizábal was again appointed Minister of Finance in 1843 but had to go in exile again when the moderates came back to power.

In 1847, he came back to Spain and occupied a seat in the Cortes until his death in 1853.

• Spanish confiscation
• Monument to Mendizábal (Madrid)

• Biography of Mendizábal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Juan Álvarez Mendizábal.