Civil engineering heritage: Country profile 1 – Spain

Spain’s exceptional civil engineering heritage is the result of historical and cultural factors. While from ancient times the country contributed to the major European and Mediterranean trends in construction, its industrialisation came later and was less intense than in other countries. That, along with its non-participation in the two World Wars, saved some of its legacy from modernisation or destruction. Moreover, Spain has a challenging terrain (the second most mountainous country in Europe after Switzerland), with many torrential rivers and a paucity of natural resources, water in particular, in much of its geography. These circumstances have, from antiquity, made civil...