Health, beneficence and mutualism: the Spanish colony in Mexico City during the Porfirio Diaz regime

This article examines health initiatives led by the Spanish colony in the Mexican capital during the Porfirio Diaz regime. Firstly, it explains the importance acquired by the Sociedad de Beneficencia Espanola (SBE) during this period. It situates the SBE within the context of the expansion and professionalization of medical services by the state, the network of social, political and economic relationships among prominent individuals in the colony, and the government of Porfirio Diaz. Then it examines the reasons for dissatisfaction with the SBE, which led to the founding of a short-lived project for a mutual society, led by Spanish store clerks: the Quinta de Salud.