The Salt Tax Revolt took place in the Spanish province of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

(Vizcaya) between 1631 and 1634, and was rooted in an economic conflict concerning the price and ownership of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

. It consisted of a series of violent incidents in opposition to Philip IV's taxation policy, and the rebellion quickly evolved into a broader social protest against economic inequalities. The origin of the rebellion was the Royal Decree of 3 January 1631, in which

Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, 1st Duke of Sanlúcar, 3rd Count of Olivares, GE, known as the Count-Duke of Olivares (taken by joining both his countship and subsequent dukedom) (6 January 1587 – 22 July 1645), was a Spanish royal favourit ...

raised the price of salt by 44%, while also ordering the requisition of all of the salt stored in Biscay, which could, from that point on, only be sold by the royal treasury. The motive of this measure, which contravened the chartered privileges of the domain and its tax exemption, was the need by the monarchy of Habsburg Spain to maintain its costly army in the wars of Northern Europe. The tax was preceded by other measures to raise money, such as the application of fees to trade in

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

or woolen cloth. The population of Biscay reacted angrily against the representatives of royal authority, even going so far as to assassinate the procurator of the Court of Corregidor in October 1632. The revolt also blocked the meeting of the General Assemblies of

Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

in 1633, demanding for all of the abusive taxes to be revoked and for the restoration of the tax exemption recognized in the privileges. The rebellion, which lasted on-and-off for more than three years, was definitively crushed in the spring of 1634, when the main ringleaders were arrested and executed. Philip opted to pardon the rest of the rebels and to suspend the original order concerning the price of salt as a concession.

References

1630s conflicts 1630s in Spain 17th-century rebellions Biscay Salt tax Rebellions in Spain Tax resistance Philip IV of Spain {{Econ-hist-stub