Alcavala, Or Aleabala, a duty imposed in Spain and its colonies on all transfers of property. It was originally laid in 1341 as an ad valorem tax of 10 per cent., and was afterward increased to 14 per cent. It was even levied on such movable chattels as manufactured commodities, and was attached to all wholesale transactions. This oppressive impediment to the operations of trade continued over the greater part of the Spanish realm until swept away by Napoleon in 1808. Catalonia and Aragon purchased from Philip V. an exemption from the alcavala by the substitution of a tax on rents and on incomes.