Alberto Lista and the Gaceta de Bayona: the moral desire of a disillusioned liberal

Abstract

Alberto Lista returns to journalism during the ominous decade, putting himself at the service of the Spanish Government with the Gaceta de Bayona. It is a propaganda instrument aimed at raising capital to finance the coffers of the Spanish State in a strategy led by the Minister of Finance Luis López Ballesteros, who, in the long term, sought to convince Ferdinand VII of the effectiveness of public management as path of political reform. To adapt to this work of service, Lista develops a critical argument in the face of a reality that inspires fear of moral and religious disaster, pointing out the challenge of training capable men for governability. Lista stands in favor of education, religion and the promotion of industry, convinced that the middle class, in that situation, is in need of order and instruction for the proper use of an increasingly narrow concept of possible freedom. Even so, and from his Christian moral basis, a fundamental pillar of his thought, he will advocate for civil liberties and harmony, beyond the tenor of articles limited to circumstances that are completely adverse to freedom.