Carlos José de Borbón y Braganza

At the table

Diet of the Laboring Poor

Poor laborers often ate soup with oil or cornmeal porridge in the morning and legumes or salted sardines at midday. Wine was considered expensive, so these families typically drank it only on feast days, sometimes to excess.

What people wore

The essential Spanish national costume

Women of all social classes wore a black skirt called a basquiña and a head-covering shawl called a mantilla when going out in public or to church, removing them immediately upon entering a home.

Getting around

Long carriage journeys required mule rest

In 1786, a four-passenger carriage pulled by seven mules took 14 days to travel from Barcelona to Madrid, including a mandatory day of rest for the mules in Zaragoza. Travelers often paid for coaches and used multiple mules to navigate the journey, as was customary for longer trips.

What it cost

Food prices for ordinary families

Food prices varied significantly; for example, a chicken cost 8 reales, while a pound of beef or mutton cost 2 reales.

Music

Music in Religious Contexts

Although secular music thrived, religious authorities like Charles III eventually prohibited dancing and playing instruments during religious acts in 1780. Despite this, music remained part of wedding processions and romerías (pilgrimages), which allowed for more musical freedom than church services.

Daily life

Difficult access to water supplies

Water was a daily constraint for ordinary people who lacked piped access and often fetched it from public fountains or bought it from water carriers. To supplement supplies, households collected rainwater in cisterns or relied on local wells, requiring significant manual labor to provision for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.