MADRID METRO BEGINS 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

The Madrid Metro system is the seventh largest in the world and transports over 625 million people a year from A to B. The Madrid Metro was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII on 17 October 1919 meaning that this coming year, the Spanish capital will celebrate a century of transport on its Metro system. The Comunidad de Madrid (Madrid Council) and a number of other organisations have a whole host of celebrations in the pipeline with various activities already underway.

The first of the commemorative events was a competition to redesign the 100 year anniversary logo. The competition was won by Madrilenian architect Azuenca Herránz whose design is already in use as the official anniversary logo of the Madrid Metro. Additionally, King Felipe VI recently inaugurated an exhibition that will now remain open to the public featuring the original train-cars that ran on the line a century ago along with a number of other locomotive artefacts. The exhibition will be accompanied by a ‘Centenary Line’ historical tour running from Cuatro Caminos to Sol, the original route travelled by the first users, which will offer a journey through the history of the Metro in the form of oversized photos installed on platforms and in Metro corridors.

Late 2018 brings with it more historical and cultural activities such as a drawing contest for children with a view to involving the youngest members of the community in the commemorative celebration. Further exhibitions will take place such as at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport where visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the next 100 years of the underground through photographs. Another key events is the ‘Centennial Race’ on 3 February 2019 which encourages participants to run a historic five kilometre route between Cuatro Caminos and Sol, following the same route as Alfonso XIII nearly 100 years ago. 

The Madrid Metro has produced promotional video content, such as the clip below, that aims to incentivise Madridlenians to join in and commemorate the transport system that has formed the scaffolding to the great city.