Permanent Exhibition
The Roots.
The Birth of a Nation.
Our Sea.
On the Edge of the Empire.
A Steam-powered Nation.
Agriculture, Manufacture and Trade
Art, Science and Thought
Rebellions, Revolutions and Reforms
Steam Industrialisation
The New Industrial Society
Rebirth, Patriotism and Nationalism
Urban Transformation
Modernisme
The Electric Years.
Defeat and Recovery
Retrat de la Catalunya contemporània (1980-2007)
A Steam-powered Nation.
Rebellions, Revolutions and Reforms
 The New Industrial Society
Steam Industrialisation

During the nineteenth century, Catalonia experienced economic and social change brought about by industrialisation and the move away from traditional manufacturing to modern industry. After the initial impetus in the eighteenth century, the process of industrialisation was slow and gradual until 1840, but after the First Carlist War, growth became spectacular. In the textile sector, the Catalan textile industry centred on traditional manufacturing sites such as Barcelona, Terrassa or Sabadell, where steam was used, or in areas with rivers, where water power was harnessed.

Labour Conflict
The First Steam-Powered Factories in the Barcelona Plain
Industrial Heartlands
The Iron And Steel Industry
The Era of the Railways
Finance
The Countryside, between Modernisation and Phylloxera
The Problems of Industrialisation

1813. The Cadiz Cortes make a declaration of freedom for industry.
1820. Freedom of trade.
1833. Opening of the first steam textile mill by Bonaplata, Rull, Vilaregut and Company.
1835. The Bonaplata mill is burnt down in a popular uprising.
1844. Founding of the Bank of Barcelona, as promoted by Manuel Girona, and the Savings Bank of Barcelona.
1845-1846. Construction of the Vapor Vell (Old Steam Factory) in Sants.
1847. Formation of España Industrial, Sociedad Anónima Fabril y Mercantil (manufacturing and trading company).
1848. Opening of the first railway line in Spain, from Barcelona to Mataró.
1849. "España Industrial" opens the Vapor Nou (New Steam Factory) in Sants.
1855. Formation of the Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima (engineering company).
1866. Beginning of the financial crisis.


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