On November 1, 1931, the First National Radio Exhibition was inaugurated in Barcelona. So it had to be: in the capital of Catalonia and only a few months after the proclamation of the Republic.
It was logical, since the first station had been founded in Barcelona in 1924. And it was also logical that the Republic was a sign of freedom in this field. Suffice it to say that the people most responsible for the creation of EAJ-1 were summoned shortly after by the fearsome minister of slavery Martínez Anido to the General Directorate of Security: they made them wait so long that they ended up spending the night there; The next day they were released. It was a warning for them to be very careful about the use they were going to make of that new technology, seen by the dictatorship as a danger.
The Catalans and the people of Barcelona, their spearhead, have always been seduced by foreigners and modernity. Hence, the growing interest in Europe in the attractive novelty of radio did not go unnoticed.
Barcelona emerged as the welcoming venue for such an adventure. In 1923 a group of businessmen founded the magazine Radiosola. In 1924, a series of companies created the National Radiotelephony Association to attract business people and merchants who promoted radio.
EAJ-1 was born, installing the first studio under the dome of the Colón Hotel, with very visible antennas on the roof. On November 14, 1924, the first message was broadcast, by the mayor Baron de Viver. The following year, the station moved to Casp, 12, and shortly after still permanent 6.
It was undoubtedly a stimulus that the number of receivers and radio listeners multiplied spectacularly.
It was significant that Ràdio Barcelona provided its technical support so that the proclamation of the Republic made by Macià from the balcony of Plaza Sant Jaume could be broadcast throughout Spain.
It was logical that a few months later the first exhibition would be inaugurated. The place provided a symbolic load not only because of its centrality: the Plaza Catalunya subway entrance was in front of the Colón Hotel.
Journalism was entering an innovative phase that, far from harming the written press, provided fascinating and vivid information speed.
