Guide to visit the museum

Industrialization

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The incorporation of the steam engine from 1830 is the definitive step towards the Industrial Revolution in Catalonia. The factories colonize the cities and sprawl out along the major rivers to take advantage of the flow of water, whilst in 1848 the first railway line on the peninsula is inaugurated, between Mataró and Barcelona, for goods transport.

The textile industry is the driving force of Catalan industrialization. Looms driven by steam are lined up in huge mills, where hundreds of people work amidst a tremendous din. Working conditions are harsh: long days, scant hygiene and a high accident rate, with no protection of any kind against illness. Wages, which can barely guarantee subsistence, are even lower for women, who are a majority in the textile industry, and children, who start work at a very early age.

As happens all over industrial Europe, the first workers’ associations appear to channel their demands and are often violently repressed. 

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