Engineers and gas supply in 19th-century Spain

Engineers played a crucial role in the origins and implementation of the gas industry in Spain. The contribution of foreign investors and technicians was particularly relevant. By studying their activity, this paper contributes to better understanding the international circulation of knowledge and of experts in the gas industry at the European level. In this sense, it was fundamental in Spain, due to the almost total absence of specialized local technicians in this industry. Only since the late 1950s, once adequate training centers existed, along with companies with local capital and an Administration increasingly committed to the control of mechanisms within this sector, were Spanish engineers to become increasingly relevant.