Compañía Transatlántica Española, S.A. (''Transatlantic Company of Spain'', abbreviated CTE), also known as the Spanish Line in English, was a passenger ocean line that has largely ceased operations although it still exists as a company. It is popularly known as ''"La Trasatlántica"'' in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

( Catalan: ''"La Transatlàntica"'').

History

CTE's first office in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

was in Santander in the 19th century. Its head office was transferred to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

after

Antonio López y López Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, the owner of the company, married Catalan, Dona Lluïsa Bru Lassús. "La Trasatlántica" was established in colonial

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in 1850 as "Compañia de Vapores Correos A. López" by Spanish businessman and slave trader Don Antonio López y López. It began operations with a 400-ton sail- steamer. Colon at PortSaid-summer1898

In 1878 Antonio López was ennobled with the title of Marquess of Comillas. His company changed its name to "Compañía Transatlántica Española", its present name, after being registered as a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

in 1881. After the Marquess of Comillas's death in 1883, his fourth son, Don

Claudio López Bru Claudio is an Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese, it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan and Occitan, it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudius was the name of an eminent Roman gens, the most import ...

, took charge of the company. By 1894 the Compañía Transatlántica Española fleet reached 33 vessels with a total of 93,500 registered tons. In the 1898

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

used 21 CTE ships as auxiliary vessels. They tried to break the blockade that the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

imposed on

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, the last great colonies of the Spanish crown, but were mostly unsuccessful. Vapor Reina Victoria Eugenia

After that war CTE's fleet became increasingly obsolescent, and its largest liners were small by international standards. It began to renew its fleet with two new technologically advanced

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s launched in 1912: from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

In 1917 a mine sank the CTE liner off

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

, killing 134 people. CTE claimed that the UK had planted the mine. The UK Admiralty denied it, and alleged that the German raider had planted the mine. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

CTE continued to modernise its fleet. The Spanish-based shipbuilder

Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval From 1909 until the Spanish Civil War, naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval – (SECN) also Spanish Society for Naval Construction (SECN). During this time the majority of its shares were owne ...

(SECN) was now able to build

ocean liners An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

as large as those CTE had previously bought from abroad, and the Marquess of Comillas owned 30 percent of SECN, so CTE commissioned SECN to supply the

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

steamships ''Alfonso XIII'' and ''Cristóbal Colón'', both launched in 1923. Claudio López Bru, second Marquess of Comillas, died in 1925. A new ship launched in 1928 was named ''Marques de Comillas'' after him. After the proclamation of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

in 1931, CTE renamed ships that had borne the names of members of the

Spanish royal family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...

. ''Alfonso XIII'' became ''Habana'', after

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.mail ship service between Spain and the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, so they were renamed ''Argentina'' and ''Uruguay'' respectively. The Spanish government had subsidised CTE to provide the mail service. In 1932 the

Republican government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a types of democracy, type of democracy where elected delegates Representation (politics), represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearl ...

withdrew the subsidy, so CTE withdrew the service and laid up ''Argentina'' and ''Uruguay'' at Barcelona. The

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

between 1936 and 1939 destroyed much of CTE's fleet, and left much of the remainder in disrepair. The Spanish Republican Navy requisitioned some CTE ships and used them to evacuate refugees from coastal cities besieged by the Nationalist armies. In 1939 Nationalist air raids sank ''Argentina'' and ''Uruguay'' in Barcelona. Between 1950 and 1960 CTE slowly recovered, but post-war advances in civil aviation overtook its passenger business. CTE shares fell and the ailing company lost investors. In 1960, at one of CTE's shareholders' meetings it was proposed to transform CTE into an airline, but funds were not forthcoming. Between the mid-1960s and 1974, CTE liquidated practically all its fleet. One of the last luxury ocean-liners of the company was ship ''Virginia de Churruca'', sold to

Trasmediterránea Trasmediterránea operates passengers and cargo ferries between mainland Spain and the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and northern Africa's Spanish territories. Since 2017 the majority of the company belongs to Naviera Armas. History The ...

which used it for ferry services to the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. The profits from sales like these, undertaken "at the point of death", were minimal. In 1978 a non-functional Compañía Transatlántica Española was integrated into the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), a Spanish state entity that absorbed failed companies in order to service debt, among other purposes. In 1994 CTE became a private company after being acquired by Naviera del Odiel. CTE managed to survive, but was only engaged minor shipping operations using chartered ships, as well as in real-estate business. In its last days CTE was not even a shadow of the transoceanic shipping company it was in its heyday, when its luxury passenger liners cruised the World's oceans. Following the strengthening of the

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

currency between 2005 and 2006, as well as higher fuel costs, CTE found it increasingly difficult to service the debts to its creditors. Finally, in September 2012 it entered an

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

procedure.

Monuments

CTE had a pavilion in the maritime section of the

1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan language, Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish language, Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 Apri ...

. It designed by Catalan architect

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barc ...

, better known for the

Sagrada Família The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, otherwise known as Sagrada Família, is a church under construction in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Desi ...

. The CTE pavilion was demolished only a few years after its completion to make way for the ''Passeig Marítim'', Barcelona's harbor promenade. Models of this now-demolished structure can be seen at the Sagrada Família museum.Joan Bassegoda i Nonell, ''Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926),'' Barcelona, Fundació Caixa de Pensions, 1984. . p. 236 There is a sculptural relief representing a ''Compañía Transatlántica'' allegory on one side of the monument "A López y López" in Barcelona. This work was made by the Catalan sculptor Rossend Nobas.

References

Bibliography

External links

Compañía Transatlántica Española - History

* ttp://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/spain/spsh-ag/colon.htm Seizure of steamer Colón - Compañía Transatlántica Española * (incomplete list) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compania Transatlantica Espanola Companies based in Barcelona Basque companies Transport in Catalonia History of Barcelona Transport companies established in 1850 Shipping companies of Spain 1850 establishments in Spain

History

Monuments

See also

References

Bibliography

External links