Right underneath the Cathedral, an intricate tunnel system connects what used to be Palma’s harbour with the Plaça d’Espanya where the train station of the Ferrocarriles de Mallorca was situated. One can still see the tunnel exit even though it is now bricked-up. Above an arch facing the pond in Parc de la Mar, a sculpted stone depicts the goods train, bearing the date Año 1932, the year of the line’s inauguration. When the car park was built below the Mercat de l’Olivar, one could catch a glimpse of a number of tunnels crisscrossing some 20 metres below street level.

The first train line between Plaça d’Espanya and the Port de Palma was built overground in 1874 and inaugurated in 1877. Initially, the goods trains were pulled by horses (see photo centre); after 1881 they were pulled by steam engine locomotives (see photo bottom). The underground line was built in 1928 and put into service in 1931, extending to a length of 2,046 metres of which 1,252 metres were subterranean. The underground train service for merchandise was discontinued after 1965; after that the goods service continued overground once again.

The photo (top) was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 15th, 2011. The time was 14:55:59. The photos (centre and bottom) were borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of railsiferradures.blogspot.com and spanishrailway.com, respectively.

Muchas gracias.