Still on track: Barcelona’s metro celebrates its centenary

Filling the Sink

On December 30, 1924, the first section of Barcelona's city metro was inaugurated, running between Plaça Catalunya and Lesseps. Thousands of Barcelona residents continue to commute daily along this section of what is now line 3, perhaps unaware that they are travelling through tunnels with one hundred years of history. As the metro’s centenary approaches, we dedicate an episode of Filling the Sink to exploring its origins and discovering how it continues to stay on track in a modern and ever-changing world.

Catalan News journalist Cillian Shields meets Marta Torres, author of the book Barcelona, Metro a Metro, to listen to some of the fascinating stories behind the station names. Correspondent Coralie Moreau takes a musical journey though the metro and chats to some of the musicians who make a living busking underground. And host Beth Cohen investigates some of the activities that the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona have organized for the centenary celebrations, including ghost station visits, an exhibition of old train carriages and an underground race through the tunnels.

This week’s Catalan phrase is an easy but very useful one that you may hear whilst riding on the metro, “Pròxima estació”, meaning “next station”. So don’t miss your stop and don’t miss this week’s podcast!