Del atraso a la convergenciaLa red de carreteras en España, 1900-2010

Abstract

The need to address the constraint on the growth of the Spanish economy caused by the deficient road transport network became a primary objective of the State’s investment policy during the whole of the 20th century. An initial effort to build the network was made in the first thirty years of the century, marking the start of the contemporary era of road transport in Spain. This development was interrupted by the civil war, then, a new boost in road construction took place between 1960 until the crisis of the mid 1970s, a period during which investments in road infrastructure were multiplied. During the Transition period there was a sharp fall in investments, no efforts were made to extend the length of the network and the competences for part of the roads were transferred to the newly-formed Autonomous Regions. From the mid-1980s and with the help of European funds, Spain made a considerable effort to modernise its network. It is no longer underdeveloped and has converged with the rest of Europe in terms of its largescale transport infrastructure facilities.