The Spanish nineteenth century saw a great change in communications that allowed greater economic integration of the entire territory. In this transport revolution, the use of iron was of fundamental importance. Either for the formation of transport machinery or for the formation of infrastructures such as railways, iron has been present as a raw material in all the technological change that has allowed the improvement of transport during the 19th century.
But the most important part of the content of this work and origin of the subject “Man and iron in Catalonia” is the construction of iron bridges. Until then, the great mountain ranges and rivers could only be crossed in places where the circumstances were favorable: a natural mountain pass or a ford. But the technological process of the 19th century facilitated the overcoming of these barriers, although the bridges represented a difficult test due to the skill of the builders. Although iron was already known to man from the constructions of the pyramids, it was not developed as a structural material until the late seventeenth century so that it could not be melted in large quantities.
Also linked to iron and transport in general was the birth of the railway. The first thing that circulated in Spain was the one from Barcelona to Mataró, 1848. The railway brought great social and economic advantages. In fact, however, the development of mechanical road vehicles has a higher interest although automobiles were a curiosity in the 19th century. On the other hand, bicycles were numerous. The idea of propelling oneself is prior to the 19th, but in 1818 a German baron von Drais, patented the Draisine.
