{"id":92275,"date":"2017-12-02T14:10:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T13:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=92275"},"modified":"2017-11-28T14:13:56","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T13:13:56","slug":"miquel-biada-railway-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/miquel-biada-railway-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Miquel Biada and the First Railway in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The nineteen miles by <strong>railway<\/strong> between Barcelona and the fishing town of\u00a0<span lang=\"en\"><strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong>\u00a0once served as an important turn in Spain&#8217;s <strong>transportation<\/strong> history. It was the very first railroad in Spain to open. <span class=\"notranslate\">The Maresme line (R1) of Spain&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>railway<\/strong> system connects <strong>Ma\u00e7anet-Massanes\u00a0<\/strong>with <strong>Molins de Rei<\/strong>, expanding from Gerona to La Selva. Thousands of people use this line to go up and down along the coast of Catalonia, making the R1 among the most utilized in Spain. As a major first in Spain&#8217;s transit, its source came from a\u00a0<strong>Matar\u00f3\u00a0<\/strong>local who started out as a noble fisherman before he became known all over Spain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/sants-train-station\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What to see and do near Sants train station<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/miquel-biada-railway-barcelona\/#Miquel_Biada\" title=\"Miquel Biada\">Miquel Biada<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/miquel-biada-railway-barcelona\/#Constructing_The_Barcelona_-_Mataro_Line\" title=\"Constructing The Barcelona &#8211; Matar\u00f3 Line\">Constructing The Barcelona &#8211; Matar\u00f3 Line<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/miquel-biada-railway-barcelona\/#Grand_Opening\" title=\"Grand Opening\">Grand Opening<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Miquel_Biada\"><\/span>Miquel Biada<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_92277\" style=\"width: 351px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92277\" class=\" wp-image-92277\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/10554330326_a0ccaa74c7_c-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"341\" height=\"190\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-92277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya via Visualhunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">The youngest of thirteen brothers, Miquel Biada was born in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/all-about-fishing-in-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fishing town<\/a> of <\/span><span lang=\"en\"><strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong>. He spent a decade and a half in the military, traveling to Latin America to fend off Venezuelan independence and settling in Cuba. It was during his time there that he was part of the first <strong>railway<\/strong> in the country to transfer the tons of sugar grown on the island. When he returned to\u00a0<strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en\">he decided to start a project <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/construction-companies-casas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">constructing<\/a> a <strong>railway<\/strong> between his hometown and Barcelona.\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en\">In 1838, he was knighted by Queen Isabel II for his work in the military during their campaigns in Latin America and he used his name to bring attention to the project to multiple financiers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Constructing_The_Barcelona_-_Mataro_Line\"><\/span>Constructing The Barcelona &#8211; Matar\u00f3 Line<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_92285\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92285\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-92285\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/9920166536_4604412345-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-92285\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by juan50300 via Visualhunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">In 1840,<\/span><span lang=\"en\">\u00a0Biada worked with the <strong>Royal Private Board of Commerce of Barcelona<\/strong> to jump-start the project. After several delays, he got final support from a London-based Catalan named\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Maria Roca Caba and his company, who got government grants\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en\">and established the <strong>Gran Compa\u00f1\u00eda Espa\u00f1ola Camino de Hierro<\/strong> company with Biada as the treasurer. With the intent\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en\">to move goods and people, Biada was able to acquire\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en\">five million pesetas ($1 million in today&#8217;s money) from investors in Spain and abroad. Part of the construction was the <strong>Montgrat Tunnel<\/strong>\u00a0in which they dynamited the center of a hill and constructed an arch for the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/barcelona-madrid-by-train\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">train<\/a><\/strong> to drive through to the other side.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Grand_Opening\"><\/span>Grand Opening<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_92278\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92278\" class=\" wp-image-92278\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/6941822821_02141eb4dd_b-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"193\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-92278\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by MiquelGP54 via Visualhunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">Testing took place in early October and the government inspected the line, declaring it safe. On October 28, 1848, the <strong>railway<\/strong> was inaugurated with its official departure from Barcelona to <strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong>\u00a0and a ride lasting 35 minutes in total. The <strong>railroad<\/strong> was an immediate success financially and made the Maresme a wealthy area. There was only one person missing: Miquel Biada. He died in April earlier that year had not had the chance to see his vision finished.\u00a0The start of a boom in Spain&#8217;s industrialization, the line was extended to <strong>Arenys de Mar<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Tordera<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Ma\u00e7anet &#8211; Massanes<\/strong>. The trip, especially through the\u00a0<strong>Montgrat Tunnel<\/strong>,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>became a hit as the first on the Iberian Peninsula.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/metro-station\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barcelona Metro Station Names<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">The legacy of the\u00a0Barcelona-<strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong>\u00a0line is the proof of expansion of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/public-transport-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transportation<\/a><\/strong> between the major cities and the towns like\u00a0<strong>Matar\u00f3<\/strong> that would come to connect everyone in all corners. Trains became the new norm of transportation in Europe and Spain at the time. Having been a part of the new line in Cuba,\u00a0Miquel Biada came back to Spain to make his hometown an important point in the history of transit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Looking for an apartment in the city? <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ShBarcelona<\/a><\/strong> can help you find the perfect one.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"grammarly-disable-indicator\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"92275\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The nineteen miles by railway between Barcelona and the fishing town of\u00a0Matar\u00f3\u00a0once served as an important turn in Spain&#8217;s transportation history. It was the very first railroad in Spain to open. The Maresme line (R1) of Spain&#8217;s\u00a0railway system connects Ma\u00e7anet-Massanes\u00a0with Molins de Rei, expanding from Gerona to La Selva. Thousands of people use this line [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":92296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4597],"tags":[8298,4975,3013,4228,8282],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92275"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92298,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92275\/revisions\/92298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}