With the arrival of the nineteenth century and the Industrial Revolution, Spain decided to jump aboard the train—literally. Rail became the new symbol of progress, and tracks soon began appearing across the country. Well, “soon” is a figure of speech, because, as tradition dictates, the work was delayed, budgets soared, and arguments about the best routes dragged on for decades. In other words, not much has changed on that front.
Spain’s first railway opened in 1848, linking Barcelona with Mataró. Naturally, it was a success, because everyone was excited about traveling faster than on the back of a donkey. However, the rail network expanded much more slowly than one might expect. The government of the day was trying to coordinate the country’s different regions, each with its own interests and priorities, and that caused more delays than an AVE line under construction.
Despite everything, railways eventually connected much of the country, and although the trains were hardly fast, they were the first step toward modernizing transport in Spain. The curious thing is that, despite all our subsequent technological improvements, we still have a love-hate relationship with trains. Especially when we discover that, for some mysterious reason, the line we are waiting for has been under construction for so long we have lost count.