Abstract: The article analyses of the ideas of the Spanish conservatives in the sphere of social policy. The "social question" related to the precarious material situation of industrial workers, in Spain, as in other European countries, manifested itself along with a number of other conflicts related to dynastic disputes, government forms, local and economic restrictions. Of all the conflicts, the Spanish conservatives considered the "social question" to be the most serious, since they saw in it the largest threat to property and public order. Conservatives criticized socialism as an attempt to solve the "social question" through a complete change in the relations of property and power. Conservatives also disagreed with laissez-faire liberalism, which opposed any state intervention in the economy. The political and philosophical heritage of Balmes, Cortes, Bravo Murillo and Canovas del Castillo as the most famous Spanish conservatives of the 19th century was analysed. The article studies justification of possible social policy measures in the works and public speeches of these thinkers. Conservatives believed that inequality was inherent and that material inequality was inevitable. Spanish conservatives believed that religious charity and corporate support were the means to alleviate the discontent of the least well-off and to mitigate social conflicts. According to conservatives, state social support should only be used in cases where charity or corporate assistance was insufficient. Conservative political philosophy influenced the nature and content of social laws in Spain. The social policy system that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries reflected conservative values that were later developed in corporate social security mechanisms in the mid-20th century and still influence a number of aspects of the Spanish welfare state.

Keywords: charity, social policy, social question, socialism, conservatism, Canovas del Castillo, Bravo Murillo, Balmes, Donoso Cortes, history of Spain