Severe drought events of late 19th century in Catalonia (NE Spain) and their social impacts (1864-1897)

Drought is a recurrent feature of the Mediterranean climate. However, some of its severe manifestations cause important social impacts. In the current context of climate change, Catalonia (NE of the Iberian Peninsula) is experiencing episodes of drought with a frequency and severity of worrying characteristics. The study of this climatic risk on large time scales is justified in order to enable better management of any similar situations that may occur in the future.

This work proposes an approach to some of the episodes of similar severity that have occurred in recent history. This allows us to incorporate information from different sources. Specifically, the study analyses the period of the last third of the 19^th century, in which a sustained rainfall deficit appears in the instrumental meteorological series of Barcelona. From this first identification, we work with the instrumental series available in Spain before 1900. We use a total of 18 rainfall series that covers the last third of the 19^th Century, including that of Barcelona (1786-2023). We also use information from historical documentary sources for the period 1860-1900, which contain cultural proxies (pro pluvia rogations) and direct descriptions of drought impacts.

A high temporal resolution study, with information at daily resolution, makes it possible to study the conditions and evolution of the drought during the aforementioned period on the Spanish Mediterranean coast and in Catalonia. It identifies the periods of greatest severity and the areas affected.

Moreover, the utilisation of documentary and bibliographical sources allows us to identify and evaluate information on the impacts suffered by society and the stages of deterioration that are progressively detected. The episode of drought at the end of the 19^th century may not manifest acute and evident periods, but its long duration generated a serious social situation. Agricultural activity suffered from low yields and this productive crisis was showed by the markets. Resulting in severe tensions and conflicts amongst the working classes, both rural and urban, due to these economic problems. This situation led to a strong deterioration of the socio-political situation that continued during the first years of the 20^th century.