Back in 1899, the first electric streercars start to go in Berlin. All the main cities in Barcelona will soon use this new way of public transportation. Barcelona was not an exception and in 1907 all the streetcars were electric and until 1929 they live they golden age.
During the ‘spanish recession prior to the Civil War, the netword is almost abandonned and the Civil War bombs let a city in ruins.
After the war, the network is rebuilt and the streetcars worked again. In 1951, the ticket price was the reason of an important passengers stroke. The sixties arrived with a new feature: the Car. The investment in new infrastructures for cars set aside the streetcars. In 1971 they dissapear of the public transportations network. The reasons were it bothered the cars and they were old fashioned.
But only two years later, when fuel starts to increase its price, this elimination is questioned but we’ll have to wait until 2004 to find again streetcars in Barcelona.
Barcelona by streetcar (1908)
Here you have a hidden gem I found in Youtube. This is a recording made by Ricardo de Baños. In this film was made in 1908 and they have been recuperated by Filmoteca Española. The first part takes place in Passeig de Gracia and while the streetcar goes up to the hill, the landscape change and the big city becomes a little village.
This is a piece of the history in motion!