Technology has advanced at such a speed that it’s hard to imagine that the big novelty a century ago was that the towns of Catalonia managed to have a telephone. Literally, one. And things were always happening around it.
With great ceremony, the plenary session of the Lliçà de Vall council in 1921 agreed to install a telephone exchange in the municipality. Since the Mancomunitat (Commonwealth) had been established in Catalonia in 1914, the institution had aimed to modernise the country. As its president, Enric Prat de la Riba, said, every town should have a library, a road, and a telephone, which at the time was the most advanced communication tool available.
Before the Mancomunitat, the country’s telephone network was chaotic. It was fragmented among small companies that only served their own subscribers. In other words, you couldn’t call the next town over unless it was served by the same company. Moreover, since these companies prioritised business and profit, they had no intention of spending money to extend wiring to smaller municipalities, as it was not economically worthwhile.
1. Photo from June 1966, of Ramona at the new house on the Av. Montserrat where they moved in 1962. Author: Unknown 2. Can Mariano, where the Telefónica Central de España sign can be seen (with great difficulty) next to the entrance door. Author: Unknown 3. Telephone with operator’s number. Author: Silvia Jordan (El 9 Nou)
In contrast, when the Mancomunitat received permission from the central government to implement its own network, it did not focus on financial gain but on a vision for the country. That is why Lliçà de Vall was able to establish its own telephone exchange. The operation was very rudimentary and simple. There was a single device operated by one telephone operator, whose job was to notify residents when they had a call.
In the case of Lliçà, the exchange was installed in the Les Casetes neighbourhood, specifically at Can Mariano, and the operator was Ramona Nadal Grau, daughter of Mariano Nadal Vidal. She was likely one of the first locals to secure a salaried job and, moreover, one unrelated to agriculture. These were the 1920s, and a new generation of women were seeking to carve out a place for themselves in the world. In the city, opportunities were more abundant, but in a small town of just over five hundred inhabitants, the position of telephone operator was one of the few paid jobs available.
1. Nadal Grau Family (1950 or 1951). Ramona Nadal is the third in the first row. 2. Photo of Marià, son of Ramona at the entrance of the room where the Telephone Exchange is located, with the sign that hung from the wall. 21 August 1976. 3. People in front of the exchange at Can Mariano in the Les Casetes neighbourhood (1950s). Photo courtesy of the Lliçà de Vall Municipal Archive.
Next to the exchange were a tavern and Can Fèlix’s grocery store. Altogether, this made it the most socially active spot in the village, especially on Sundays after church. That was when people took the opportunity to call relatives living elsewhere, or the girls tried to speak with their boyfriends serving in the military somewhere far away. While waiting their turn, people would shop, have a drink, or chat with neighbours until they could make their call.
Meanwhile, Ramona was always at her post. Her work required her to monitor every call, and whether she wanted to or not, she would overhear what people were saying. She learned all the family news, births, deaths, greetings, and even the conversations between young lovers, which often ended with a long farewell. After hanging up, she could sometimes see the traces of a wistful smile on the girls’ faces. Nobody knew more about the villagers than the telephone operator.
1. Source: El 9 Nou newspaper, 5 September 2005, special “El 9 estiu, La Contra: Records d’un racó, ‘Una casa lligada a la central telefònica’”. Author: 2. Ramona Nadal in the present day. Author:
Lliçà de Vall Municipal Archive
Her work ended when automated exchanges were installed and private homes could have their own telephone line. From then on, there was no need to go to Can Mariano to make a call. Gradually, time passed, and it became just another part of history, but the Municipal Archive preserves photographs that, even for a moment, allow us to imagine what the era was like when Ramona worked as Lliçà de Vall’s telephone operator.
Photos from the Lliçà de Vall Municipal Archive. Author: Lorena Ruiz Pellicero
Do you want to know more details about this story?
Consult the original document on which this story is based at Arxius en Línia (Archives Online).
And if you want to consult it in person at the Lliçà de Vall Municipal Archive, ask for the document “Acta del Ple municipal del 13 de novembre de 1921” in “Llibres d’actes del Ple de la corporació local”, documentary series 1028, with reference code 1921-11-13_08185_101.
The importance of the document
And, if you still want to delve deeper, watch this video in which Anna Busto Veig, director of the Lliçà de Vall Municipal Archive, explains the significance of the documents chosen to tell this story.
