Postcard Exchange - Madrid Circa 1910

Madrid Around 1910

Postcards courtesy of Michelle Mock

Madrid, 1910

This tall building is the Spanish Telephone Company as it looked at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The first picture was taken around 1910 and the second one around 2000. The buildings look pretty much the same now as they did 100 (and more) years ago. The biggest differences are towards the bottom of both cards: the cars, the clothing and electric lights which line the street.

My first permanent job in Spain was working for la Compañia Telefónica Nacional de España (C.T.N.E.), the Spanish Telephone Company. I was an interpreter and translator in the International Department in the early 1970s. I worked in that tall building. I remember the day I was hired very well. It was the day the Apollo 11 astronauts arrived in Madrid for a parade down the very street you see here! How exciting!!

At the time, French was the official language for telecommunications between countries in Europe (even England). English was the official language for communcation with the United States. I was fluent in English, Spanish and French and able to correspond and provide translations. Most transatlantic telephone communications were via cables along the ocean floor. Satellite communication was in its infancy and cell phones... no one could have imagined something like that!