Country Listing

Spain Table of Contents

Spain

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: State railroad system in late 1980s covered about 13,000 kilometers, half of which electrified. This national system used a broad gauge. A smaller state-owned system, operating mainly in suburban areas of some northern cities, had over 1,000 kilometers of narrow-gauge track in operation. In addition, there were some small private railroads. Major modernization program for main state system began in late 1980s.

Roads: Total road network amounted to about 320,000 kilometers in 1986, of which 2,000 kilometers were super highways and about 20,000 were main roads. In 1980s roads were most important means of moving people and goods.

Ports: About 200, of which 10 largest-- Cartagena, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Bilbao, Barcelona, Gijon, Aviles, Puerto de la Luz, Huelva, Valencia, and Seville (Spanish, Sevilla)--accounted for 75 percent of shipping.

Civil Airports: About forty. Half of these could receive international flights.

Telecommunications: Generally adequate facilities. Telephone system operated by government company that was in process of modernizing the network. Countrywide radio and television reception. International communication provided by numerous coaxial submarine cables and two satellite ground stations.

Data as of December 1988