Foreign investment and water supply: Algeciras, 1895-1952

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role played by foreign investment in the implementation and management of water supply in the Spanish city of Algeciras. This case study presents several peculiarities that make it especially attractive. Its field of action, Algeciras, despite its small size, had a strategic nature due to its location (proximity to Gibraltar and Africa), which probably encouraged the interest of foreign investors, especially British, not only in the sector of water but also in others such as railways, cabotage, and even tourism or cork industry. Secondly, its management of the service extended over the first period of Francoism, a very unusual phenomenon that provides new perspectives on the relationship of the Franco regime with foreign capital during this period. Research was developed by using mainly British primary sources (business and public) deposited in several London archives, and also municipal ones. Through them, the company’s shareholding structure, the composition of its Board of Directors and its business strategies and results will be analyzed.