Manuel Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo

[1] The government headed by the Count of Oropesa focused on putting into practice reforms aimed at the monetary system, agriculture and industry, the treasury, the social bureaucratic and the Church.

The fact that it focused on these points is explained by the context of economic suffocation that the Monarchy was experiencing, the result of poor harvests and the constant state of war.

The Provincial Boards (Granada, Seville, Valencia, Barcelona) also helped, which revitalized the industrial fabric, which translated into a diversification of production and a substantial improvement in the price index.

To this opposition was added the ‘’Mutiny of the cats (Los Gatos)’’, a disturbance apparently unleashed by the people of Madrid in April 1699 as a result of the lack of bread.

King Charles II changed his will on 3 October 1700 in favor of Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV of France and his sister Maria Theresa of Spain, and died on 1 November 1700.

In the following War of the Spanish Succession, Manuel Joaquín Álvarez Toledo first remained loyal to Philip of Anjou but in 1706 chose the side of the Austrian pretender.