Railway Operation in Spain.

Spain has been through a trying time of late, and the railways of this corner of the continent have been operated under great difficulties. Completely reorganised some ten years ago, the Spanish railway system is unique in being almost all composed of 5 ft. 6 in. tracks, as compared with the European standard-gauge of 4 ft. 8 1/2 in. Under the law of July 12, 1924, the management of the various Spanish railways was left to the individual companies—about one hundred in all—but geographical grouping was introduced to cut out overlapping and uneconomic competition. Railway enterprise in Spain has always relied largely upon foreign capital. The two leading lines—the Northern; and the Madrid, Zaragoza and Alicante—both have supervising committees sitting in Paris. The Great Southern Railway of Spain is a British concession. Never very profitable undertakings, the Spanish railways must necessarily suffer considerably as a consequence of internal unrest.

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