In the collective imagination of the city, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport is synonymous with modernity and a bridge to the world. However, its roots go back. Much further back even than the different airfields we have discussed in the five episodes about stories from the history of the airport.
In the last chapter of this series, the dream of flight takes us back to the days when the city looked at the sky with awe, when hot air balloons and the first airplanes defied gravity in events that ignited a passion for everything that flew. From ascensions in the El Torín bullring to the 1888 Universal Exposition or the historic Aviation Week of 1910, Barcelona was the scene of a dream that, step by step, led us to the planes that today cross the skies and arrive at or depart from El Prat.
El Torín: Where balloons conquered the people of Barcelona
Bullfights disappeared from Catalonia in 2012 to the satisfaction of many and the displeasure of others: bullfighting fans. The latter always relied on nostalgia and, when bullfights were about to disappear from Barcelona's daily life, they rightly argued that Barcelona had had more bullrings than other towns with much more bullfighting tradition. Apart from Las Arenas or La Monumental, El Torín was always mentioned in their claims.
El Torín did indeed exist as a bullring in the Barceloneta area. The arena was located where the Torre Marenostrum is today and next to the current CF Barceloneta football field. Bullfights were held there, although it was also a major activity center in Barcelona almost two hundred years ago and, although in 1802 an Italian aeronaut named Vincenzo Lunardi was the first to take off in a balloon in the city to please and amaze the members of Charles IV's court, the first public aerostation spectacle in Barcelona was held in El Torín, and it was led by the man who was then considered the best in his specialty: Monsieur Arban, who took off from the La Barceloneta square.
The French aeronaut was a celebrity of the time and had several ships on standby to follow his trajectory if the balloon ended up in the sea. The reward for rescuing him was a great incentive, although the changing winds of Barcelona caused his first flight to end up falling in a field near the mouth of the Besós river. Those who went to rescue him also believed that the reward for the help would be well paid, although the one who was rewarded for his action of helping the pilot was Eudald Munné, who, in addition to helping him, spoke with Arban in French.
Munné did not want any remuneration for the help, but a balloon ride. They shook hands and the pact was fulfilled. A few days later, a new ascent was scheduled, and Munné went up with Arban in the basket. When the balloon rose, it was a new adventure for the aeronaut, although at the same time that day in 1847 became the first in which a Barcelonian flew and could see the city like the birds.
There are pilots, pioneers… although the merit of being the first citizen of Barcelona to fly over it belongs to a name that few people recognize, although it is part of the city's history: Eudald Munné, co-owner of a carriage rental business.
The Universal Exhibition
Between those flights of the Frenchman and the first exhibition that put Barcelona on the world map, there were some more aerostation exhibitions from the bullring of La Barceloneta, although the balloon that was an absolute success was that of the Universal Exhibition of 1888, held in the Ciutadella park. In addition to the many novelties that arrived from all over the world to the capital of Catalonia and that could be visited for months, one of the most successful attractions of the event was the captive balloon that took off from the park itself.
Captive implied that it was tied by a rope to the ground, so, although it took off, it could descend to the same place to pick up a new group of air passengers. The balloon reached 200 meters in height and became the favorite watchtower for Barcelonians and visitors, who could not believe seeing the city and surroundings practically from the sea, as far as the eye could see. The success was enormous and thousands of people saw the city for the first time from an unprecedented point of view: flying.
From balloons to airplanes: new times
In the late 19th century and during the first decade of the 20th century, flying was exclusively associated with balloons. This was the case until February 12, 1910, when the Frenchman Julien Mamet made the first airplane flight in Barcelona and also in Spain. As we already mentioned in previous chapters, the city's hippodrome, which was in the current Zona Franca and was called Casa Antúnez, served as Barcelona's first airfield.
The interest in aviation was a fever, to the point that a few months after the pioneering flight, the Barcelona City Council ventured into the novel world of aviation and organized the city's first aeronautical week, with flight exhibitions of the most advanced technology of the moment. Although the City Council was the main promoter of the event, it technically had the support of the Aero Club de Barcelona, born a few months earlier due to the impulse of enthusiasts in the sector.
The event was held during a spring week when the weather was not benevolent, according to chronicles of the time. Despite the bad weather, it marked a milestone in Spanish aeronautical history, bringing together international pilots who demonstrated the capabilities of the fragile airplanes of the era. Barcelonians, eager to witness the future, crowded the hippodrome. Even three steamers sailed daily to the open sea, navigating to the height of the Llobregat lighthouse to offer spectators a unique view of the flights from the Mediterranean, according to advertisements that can be consulted in the newspaper archive of La Vanguardia from those days.
Aviation Week not only showed the potential of airplanes but also consolidated Barcelona's passion for flight. Pilots, like true heroes, defied the wind and technical precariousness, while the public dreamed of a world where flying would be commonplace. Balloons and airplanes coexisted briefly at this event, like a bridge between two eras.
The legacy of those balloons
From the ascensions from El Torín to the flights and exhibitions in Casa Antúnez, the great-great-grandparents of El Prat airport laid the foundations of Catalan aviation. Every balloon that rose and every airplane that took off was a step towards the modernity that we enjoy today in very different aircraft such as the Airbus, Boeing or Gulfstream that come and go to almost anywhere in the world from T1, T2 or the Corporate Terminal of the airport.
It was the pioneers who took off from the ground with canvas, wood and hydrogen contraptions who made it possible for us today to travel from El Prat to other countries at 900 kilometers per hour.