The rise of the legal profession, its relative wealth, and its expansion from the Old Town into the Ensanche 1841-1911

Resumen

 The exodus of legal professionals from the Old Town of Bilbao to the first Ensanche  (urban expansion area) came  in response to the many social problems in the last quarter of the nineteenth century resulting from Bilbao's  'shock' industrialization. While the legal profession expanded into and remained in the 'space' of the new Ensanche, principally after 1890, the great industrial and financial bourgeoisie of Bilbao, like the 'upper middle classes' of Manchester, abandoned the city centre for pleasanter coastal villages or 'leafy' suburbs.

Key words: legal professionals, lawyers,Bilbao old town, urban expansion, industrialization.