Empire Rising: Spain

Carlo’s itinerary in Barcelona was simple, first heading to the Barcelona City Government to inspect the work on establishing the Special Municipality. Afterwards, he proceeded to the Barcelona Industrial Base to inspect the construction status of the industrial base.

Speaking of which, it’s been several years since the Barcelona Industrial Base was completed, and Carlo’s visits here have been few and far between.

It’s not that Carlo doesn’t care about the development of the Barcelona Industrial Base, mainly because the situation in Catalonia has been rather chaotic in recent years, and coupled with the fact that Carlo has not fully come into power, he rarely set foot outside of Madrid.

There have only been three national tours like this that Carlo has conducted so far.

After entering the Barcelona City Government, the Mayor of Barcelona reported on the progress of the Special Municipality’s establishment work so far and also reported on Barcelona’s development in recent years.

As the second-largest city in Spain, Barcelona’s population growth speed is not much different from that of Madrid.

Currently, Madrid has a resident population of 760,000, while Barcelona has a resident population of 630,000, with little difference between the two.

If the workers in the industrial zone are included, Barcelona’s actual population is even greater than that of Madrid. And being located by the sea, Barcelona also attracts a large number of tourists every year, with the city’s scale in no way inferior to Madrid.

The convoy passed through the streets and alleys of Barcelona, while Carlo carefully observed the situation in Barcelona.

Currently, Barcelona’s development is quite rapid. The road construction in the city is in no way inferior to Madrid, with cars driving on Barcelona’s streets without the slightest feeling of bumpiness.

Speaking of road construction, perhaps many people may not expect it. In this era where asphalt roads are not widely used, the road construction in European countries does not primarily use cement surfaces; most roads are paved with gravel and stones or compacted dirt roads.

Each of these types of road surfaces has its issues. Roads paved with gravel and stones cannot achieve true smoothness, and cars cannot drive at high speeds on such surfaces.

As for compacted dirt roads, there is no need to elaborate. On a sunny day, they are fine, but once it rains, such roads become muddy, making it very difficult for pedestrians and vehicles to pass.

As the second-largest city in Spain, Barcelona’s city construction was better than Carlo expected.

On the road from Valencia to Barcelona, Carlo saw many rural dirt roads and stone roads connecting the major cities.

Once the train entered Barcelona, those dirt roads heavily reliant on the weather had disappeared, replaced by more gravel and stone-paved roads.

Upon entering the urban area of Barcelona, even the gravel and stone roads disappeared, replaced by a few cement roads and a large number of asphalt roads.

The so-called asphalt roads are actually roads paved with bitumen.

Unlike future generations’ bitumen roads, the asphalt of this era is extracted from the resin of coniferous plants, which is the origin of the name asphalt.

Being extracted from plant resin, the output of asphalt has never been high, and asphalt roads have not been built on a large scale.

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

Although asphalt roads have the advantages of being smoother and more durable compared to gravel roads, stone roads, and dirt roads, asphalt roads also have some drawbacks.

For instance, asphalt can melt under high temperatures, and the road surface may crack, which, like the limited output of asphalt, restricts the popularity of asphalt roads.

After listening to the reports from the Barcelona City Government on the Special Municipality’s establishment and recent years’ work, Carlo, along with his entourage, majestically headed to the Barcelona Industrial Zone.

This time, the person leading the way was not the Mayor of Barcelona, but rather the eagerly awaiting district chief of the industrial zone, Baron Angelo Orkaho.

On the road from the Barcelona urban area to the industrial zone, Baron Angelo Orkaho, with a respectful look, introduced to Carlo, who was in the same car: ”Your Majesty, please look, this is the highway we constructed together with the Barcelona City Government to connect the industrial zone and the urban area.

This main road is 12.7 kilometers long, ensuring convenient travel for the public between the urban area and the industrial zone. The entire main road is designed with six lanes in both directions, with two lanes on the left for car traffic and one lane on the right for horse-drawn carriages and other vehicles.

On both sides of the main road, there are sidewalks for pedestrians. This makes our main road over 20 meters wide, currently the widest road in Spain.”

Carlo nodded, his gaze observing this extremely wide road, vaguely catching a glimpse of a feeling from the future.

In the era before cars, road planning in Spain was not this meticulous. In fact, most roads were dirt roads, and the concepts of lanes and routes didn’t exist.

But with the advent of cars, the laws and regulations concerning transportation in Spain have seen more refinement.

Especially in cities, most roads have specific lane and route markings, which facilitate drivers of cars and horse-drawn carriages to stay in their lanes.

The main reason for doing this is to avoid traffic accidents, at least to reduce the probability of occurrences.