The objective of this work is to reconstruct the discourse of the authors who published about issues establishing links between health and primary education in the Boletin de la Institucion Libre de Ensenanza at the time of the Spanish colonial crisis in 1898. This source has been chosen due to its relevance to Spanish pedagogical renovation. Physical education was taken as a model for analysis for two reasons: firstly, it is the aspect that received the most attention; secondly, it became the engine for change in the renovation programme. In addition, its holistic nature was intended to lead to the new citizen that was needed by the country after the loss of the colonies.