The 19th century starts with a war which brought about the presence of the French in our county for about five years. It was a period of successive losses and recoveries. In spite of the local defensive forces, the French troops in charge of Major General Wattier entered Alcañiz in January 1809 following a period of plunderings and destruction. The Spanish troops recovered the county in May 18th. Some days later, the city was attacked again by the French but the Spanish troops defended their land in a heroic battle in Pueyos in May 23rd, 1809. The following month, the French occupied again Alcañiz, Caspe and Calanda which remained under their control until 1813 when Zaragoza and nearly all Aragón was liberated.
After the initial plunderings and destructions of the city, the invaders tried to organized its political, administrative and economic life. In 1812 Marshal Souchet issued a decree which gave Alcañiz the category of Province.
Because Alcañiz was occupied at that time, there was no representation of the city in the Government of the County.
The first Carlist War (1833-1840) as well as the Carlist insurrection (1872-73) caused a profound effect in the county. Important soldiers such as Joaquín Capapé nicknamed el Royo and Manuel Carnicier among others passed away in the ranks of the rebellion.
The Carlism basically consisted of a rural uprising. In Alcañiz there was at that time an active group made up by the middle class, government employees and craftmen who followed liberal ideas. The committees and the Carlist resurgence were the common political phenomena in the second half of the 19th century.