There was concern, but the expectation was much greater. The precedent of the moment of truth was already staged on October 8, 1848, when carrying out the inevitable and reasonable test trip to see how he responded to his whole new adventure. It was regrettable that the visionary Miquel Biada, promoter of that revolutionary challenge, had died a few months earlier.
The convoy consisted of the “locomotive” and ten carriages with about 400 passengers. It set off amidst cheers and applause, which continued as it passed through each of the towns, but above all when traveling through the “muntanya foradada”, the Montgat tunnel, the first in Spain. How much emotion! The reception in Mataró was spectacular. Not the slightest incident or anomaly was recorded throughout the entire route. Upon disembarking, the passengers congratulated each other effusively.
The chronicle published the next day in the Diario de Barcelona, surely written by the director Joan Mañé i Flaquer himself as a traveler, emphasized that it was a much softer transport than carriages: it allowed you to doze, write and read without shade. of dizziness.
The route was traveled at half speed to avoid surprises. Two stops were made on the way out and another on the way back to check the condition of the axles for the first time. The result was most satisfactory.
The English engineer most responsible for such a technical challenge proudly stated that Mataró was no longer five hours from Barcelona, but only half the time it took a Barcelonan to walk around the walled city from end to end.
And the day of the long-awaited official inauguration arrived, dressed in all the pomp and circumstance: October 28, 1848, a date worthy of being considered historic. It was the first train on the Peninsula, not in Spain: the pioneer had been one to transport sugar in Cuba, at the time a province.
At nine o'clock in the morning an impressive crowd surrounded the newly built station; Following a spacious entrance, there were two large waiting rooms and another room used as a ladies' dressing room. The highest civil, religious and military authorities filled the luxurious first class carriages.
A small altar had been installed on an external embankment to stage the inevitable ritual of blessing the four locomotives baptized with evocative names: Cataluña, Barcelona, Besós and Mataró
There was no shortage of picturesque and unexpected events. The many who had not received an invitation to get on the convoy let themselves be carried away by indignation and crowded into the last car. The response was curious: upon starting off, those stranded passengers realized with disappointment that their car had been uncoupled.
It was impressive to walk the long bridge over the Besós. Nothing surpassed, however, the most feared moment and covered with externalized emotion: crossing the long, dark Mongat tunnel, culminating in a burst of acclamations and applause.
The passage through each town on the itinerary constituted a celebration of unleashed joy. At Masnou, the halfway point of the line, a stop was made to stage another blessing.
The Brusi chronicle highlighted the sympathetic reaction to the passing of that noisy and smoking device: horses, oxen and flocks fled in fright.
In Mataró the houses had been emptied: the population invaded the newly built station and crowded around its surroundings.
At 12:15 p.m. the long-awaited “railway” made its appearance. Local authorities and personalities presided over the historic moment with emotion. A battalion and the cavalry paid honors when the Captain General alighted. From the altar the final blessing was carried out.
A massive and compact procession was formed, enhanced by military music, headed to the parish temple to attend the solemn Te-Deum. Returning to the station, the banquet served by the coffee grower Cuyàs of the already prestigious Set Portes was held under a well-ornamented tent. The return trip took only 35 minutes.
The two theaters in Barcelona evoked the event. The one of the Holy Cross, with music and poetry; that of the Liceu, with an operatic song and the appearance of a locomotive with its carriages, which earned indescribable acclaim.
