Chapter 317: The Development of Barcelona

Carlos's itinerary in Barcelona was simple: first, he would head to the Barcelona municipal government to inspect the work on establishing the special municipality. Afterward, he would proceed to the Barcelona industrial base to inspect the progress of its construction.

Come to think of it, it had been several years since the Barcelona industrial base was completed, and the number of times Carlos had visited could be counted on one hand.

It was not that Carlos did not care about the development of the Barcelona industrial base; it was mainly because the situation in Catalonia had been quite chaotic in the previous years, and coupled with the fact that Carlos had not yet fully consolidated power, he had rarely set foot on land outside of Madrid.

As for this kind of nationwide inspection, Carlos had only conducted three of them so far.

After entering the Barcelona municipal government, the Mayor of Barcelona reported on the progress of the special municipality's establishment to date, as well as the development of Barcelona in recent years.

As the second-largest city in Spain, Barcelona's population growth rate was not much different from that of Madrid.

Currently, Madrid had a permanent population of 760, 00, while Barcelona had a permanent population of 630, 00; the gap between the two was not large.

If the workers in the industrial zone were included, Barcelona's actual population was even higher than Madrid's. Furthermore, because it was located by the sea, Barcelona also welcomed a large number of tourists every year, and the scale of the city was in no way inferior to Madrid.

The motorcade passed through the streets and alleys of Barcelona, and Carlos was also carefully observing the situation in the city.

From the current look of things, Barcelona's development was quite rapid. The city's road construction was in no way inferior to Madrid's; as the car drove along the streets of Barcelona, one could not feel any bumps at all.

Speaking of road construction, perhaps many people would not expect it. In this era when asphalt roads had not yet been widely used, road construction in European countries was not primarily based on concrete surfaces; most roads used surfaces paved with pebbles and crushed stone or compacted dirt.

These types of road surfaces all had one problem or another. Surfaces paved with pebbles and crushed stone could not achieve true smoothness, and cars could not travel at high speeds on such roads.

There was no need to even mention compacted dirt roads; they were fine on sunny days, but once it rained, such surfaces became muddy and treacherous, making it very difficult for pedestrians and vehicles to pass.

As the second-largest city in Spain, Barcelona's urban construction was better than Carlos had anticipated.

On the road from Valencia to Barcelona, Carlos had seen too many rural dirt roads, as well as the crushed stone roads connecting major cities.

After the train entered Barcelona, those dirt roads that relied heavily on the weather had already disappeared, replaced mostly by roads paved with pebbles and crushed stone.

After entering the urban area of Barcelona, the crushed stone and pebble roads also vanished, replaced by a small amount of concrete and a large number of asphalt roads.

The so-called asphalt roads were, in reality, roads paved with bitumen.

Unlike the asphalt roads of later generations, the bitumen for the roads of this era was extracted from the resin of cypress plants, which was the origin of the name.

Because it was extracted from plant resin, the output of bitumen had always been low, and asphalt roads could not be built on a large scale.

Currently, among all the cities in Spain, only large cities like Madrid and Barcelona could see the construction of asphalt roads.

Although asphalt roads possessed the advantages of being smoother, sturdier, and more durable compared to crushed stone, pebble, and dirt roads, they also had some drawbacks.

For example, bitumen would melt under high temperatures, and there was a risk of the road surface cracking; these factors, along with the limited output of bitumen, restricted the popularization of asphalt roads.

After listening to the Barcelona municipal government's report on the establishment of the special municipality and the work of recent years, Carlos led his entourage in a grand procession toward the Barcelona industrial zone.

The person leading the way this time was not the Mayor of Barcelona, but the long-expectant head of the industrial zone, Baron Angelo Orcajo.

On the road from the Barcelona urban area to the industrial zone, Baron Angelo Orcajo introduced with a respectful expression to Carlos, who was in the same car: "Your Majesty, please look. This is the highway we built in conjunction with the Barcelona municipal government to connect the industrial zone and the urban area."

"This main thoroughfare is 12. kilometers long and can ensure that the public can conveniently travel between the urban area and the industrial zone. The entire thoroughfare adopts a six-lane, two-way design; the two lanes on the left are for automobiles, and the lane on the right is for carriages and other means of transport."

"On both sides of the main thoroughfare, there are also sidewalks provided for pedestrians. This has made our main thoroughfare over 20 meters wide, making it the widest road in Spain at present."

Carlos nodded, his gaze fixed on the extremely wide road before him, vaguely finding a hint of the feeling of later generations.

In the era before cars, Spain's road planning had not been so meticulous. In fact, most roads were dirt, so naturally, there was no talk of lanes or markings.

But with the birth of the automobile, Spain's laws and regulations regarding traffic had also become more refined.

Especially within cities, most roads had specific lane and line markings, which could help drivers of cars and carriages stay within their own lanes.

The main reason for doing this was to avoid traffic accidents, or at least to reduce the probability of their occurrence.

This era had no cameras or networks; once a traffic accident occurred, it was quite easy to flee.

Unless one hit someone in plain sight, it was very difficult to find the person who caused the crash or hit the pedestrian several hours after the accident.

Spain's approach was to station police at intersections with high traffic volume to facilitate the immediate arrest of perpetrators when traffic accidents occurred.

These police officers stationed at intersections or other locations to help manage urban traffic had now been separated from the public security department and were under the management of each city.

They also had a brand-new name: urban traffic police, which were the traffic police of later generations.

Because Spain did not ban firearms, even the urban traffic police were equipped with weapons.

The power of the urban traffic police was also much greater than that of later traffic police. In addition to being able to handle traffic accidents on the spot, the urban traffic police also had the authority to handle cases.

Unlike the ordinary police under the jurisdiction of the public security department, the urban traffic police were subordinate to the municipal governments of each city, and they were also the only armed force in various parts of Spain.

To prevent people with ulterior motives from using the urban traffic police to achieve their own ends, Spain had strictly limited the number of urban traffic police each city could possess.

First, only cities with a population of over 100, 00 could establish an urban traffic police bureau. Only with an urban traffic police bureau could they recruit a certain number of urban traffic police.

Depending on the population size of each city, the number of traffic police that could be recruited also varied.

Currently, only Madrid and Barcelona were qualified to recruit 200 urban traffic police; other cities could recruit far fewer than these two cities.

"Your Majesty, the two main thoroughfares from Barcelona to the industrial base have now been fully paved with asphalt. According to feedback from workers at the industrial base, the construction of these two roads has greatly facilitated the commute between the city and the industrial base for the workers, and trains and trams have also increased their options," Baron Angelo Orcajo continued to introduce.

"Currently, there are no new construction plans for the industrial base, but according to our estimates, the industrial base's production capacity will still maintain a certain scale of growth in the next few years."

"If the municipal government can allocate another sum of funds, I am confident that within the next five years, I can increase the industrial base's production capacity by at least 20% and add at least 100, 00 more jobs to the industrial base."

Hearing what Baron Angelo Orcajo said, Carlos's gaze immediately shifted from the road outside to him, and he asked with slight curiosity: "Are you sure, Baron Orcajo?"

"This is a 20% increase in production capacity and 100, 00 jobs; you should know what this represents for Barcelona."

A 20% increase in production capacity might not seem like much, but this was currently Spain's largest industrial base. Being able to increase production capacity by 20% without expanding the industrial base was already a quite excellent achievement.

Not to mention adding 100, 00 jobs, which would make Barcelona highly favored by the public in the coming years, with many people traveling from thousands of miles away, bringing their families to Barcelona in search of more job opportunities.

The Barcelona municipal government only needed to provide a sum of funds, and in the next few years, both industry and the economy could develop rapidly, and even the population could catch up.

One hundred thousand jobs represented not just 100, 00 people, but 100, 00 families and the source of income for hundreds of thousands of people.

If it were truly as Baron Angelo Orcajo said, Carlos even had reason to believe that Barcelona would surpass Madrid and become the first city in Spain with a population of over one million.

Spain had not yet seen the birth of a city with a population of one million, which was also a point of regret for Carlos.

Although Madrid had high hopes of becoming the first city with a population of over one million, judging by Madrid's current population growth rate, it would take at least five years or so for the population to exceed one million.

If Barcelona were to add another 100, 00 jobs in the next few years, it would truly have a chance to surpass Madrid and become the city with the largest population, the most powerful industry, and the most developed economy in Spain.

"How much funding do you need?" Carlos did not ask for the opinion of the Mayor of Barcelona, but looked directly at Baron Angelo Orcajo and asked.

"Your Majesty, to achieve the results I mentioned, a conservative estimate is that at least 35 million pesetas in funding is required. If there could be 50 million pesetas in funding, it would be even better; I have full confidence in achieving the goals I mentioned within the next five years." Seeing Carlos's attitude of 'if you dare to say it, I dare to fund it,' Baron Angelo Orcajo felt a surge of joy in his heart and hurriedly stated the funding requirements he had already calculated.

Baron Angelo Orcajo was truly not just talking. He had long-term plans for the development of the Barcelona industrial base and believed that the Barcelona industrial base had not yet exerted its full potential.

Although the Barcelona industrial base had been completed for several years, there were still a large number of workers who remained at the apprentice stage.

This was unavoidable; after all, Spain did not have that many workers at the beginning, and these workers had only barely mastered a certain level of work ability through short-term training at technical schools or self-teaching at various factories.

The abilities of these workers trained in short-term programs certainly could not compare to the skilled workers in factories in other European countries.

However, the good news was that as these workers accumulated work experience and gradually became familiar with the work at hand, they could also grow into qualified skilled workers, which would indirectly increase the production capacity of the industrial base.

Part of the increase in industrial output mentioned by Baron Angelo Orcajo came from the growth of these workers.

As for the jobs, it was mainly about the industrial base's support for certain enterprises.

Currently, the general economic environment in Spain was still quite good, and even the economic environment of the entire Europe was gradually recovering.

After the last economic crisis had completely passed, the European economy once again ushered in prosperity. It was just that every country was still a bit shaken, and the speed of development was not as exaggerated as it was before the economic crisis arrived.

Among many European countries, Spain's current development speed could already be considered quite rapid.

Against this backdrop, it was relatively easy for factories within the industrial base to make money. The Spanish government already had various forms of support and subsidies for these factories, and if the industrial base pushed for more support and subsidy policies while securing more orders for them, the factories would certainly recruit more employees, which was exactly the origin of the jobs.

Furthermore, the Barcelona industrial base had not yet reached the estimated number of workers.

Before the construction of the Barcelona industrial base, the Spanish government's expectation for the industrial base was a super-large industrial base capable of accommodating 500, 00 workers.

But so far, the number of workers at the Barcelona industrial base was only less than 400, 00, which had not yet reached the initial expectation.

There were many reasons why the initial expectation had not been met. First, the population of the Catalonia region was insufficient, which limited the development of the industrial base.

Although Catalonia had once been the region with the third-largest population in Spain, it only had 3. 2 million people.

How exaggerated were the 500, 00 jobs at the Barcelona industrial base? If only Catalans were recruited, this meant that for every 6 Catalans, 1 of them worked at the Barcelona industrial base.

Such a situation was clearly impossible to achieve; after all, it was impossible for Catalonia to invest all its manpower into the industrial base.

Even in Barcelona, there would be industries such as ports, education, healthcare, and agriculture that required a large amount of manpower.

Coupled with the fact that factories had certain requirements when recruiting—either having a certain level of education or having received training at technical schools established by the government—this further restricted the growth of the number of workers.

As Barcelona became a special municipality and had the resources of the entire Spain tilted toward it, the Barcelona industrial base would also be able to obtain a sufficient number of workers in the next few years, and filling the vacancy of the remaining 100, 00 jobs would naturally be very simple.

With the increase in workers, the output value of each factory would also increase, and the output value of the industrial base would naturally increase significantly.

In this way, the goal mentioned by Baron Angelo Orcajo would be easily achieved; for Baron Angelo Orcajo, this was a huge political achievement, and for Spain, it was a decent improvement.

(End of chapter)