A bit of history

Pascual Segura provides us with an invaluable source of information about our pueblo via his blog, "Recuerdos de Bigastro".

In his latest post, Pascual tells us about the railway that could have been.

As he explains:

In the second half of the nineteenth century Spain was involved in a large number of railway construction projects. Although the early lines were laid in Catalonia and Madrid, it wasn't long before they spread through the rest of the country including Murcia and Alicante.

In 1863 the line between Cartagena and Murcia was opened. Then, in 1884, the line between Murcia and Alicante was built.

Other links were proposed including a steam tramway from Murcia that would pass through Orihuela, Bigastro, Almoradí and Benejúzar ending up in Torrevieja.

That was in 1879 and it was to be a British lead construction. A derailment on the 15th May, 1884 saw the project abandoned. So the railway boom never reached to Bigastro and the line was never laid.