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CASSINI TOURS

01 → VALENCIA, SPAIN

ELECTRICITY / ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS 




CHISPA — Nervous System of a City


The Spanish word “chispa”—spark in English—refers to a small, fiery particle that is produced when a flammable material ignites or when two hard objects strike each other, creating a small burst of light. It could also be used metaphorically to describe a spark of creativity. The concept of the tour was built around this chispa to propose a wander in the oldest neighbourhoods of Valencia to unveil the history of light and electricity. Starting from El Carmen and ending in the Cabañal-Cañamelar, we follow the unusual thread of the buildings’ electrical installations to narrate the stories that transformed the city. 

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To appreciate the real dynamism of the city, we must envision it as a living, breathing organism pulsating with energy. Every street, every building, and every wall are interconnected by an intricate web of electrical installations and wires, materialising an elaborated network of electrical impulses innervating the urban environment. As unnatural as these installations are, they are not so different from the functioning of the nerves that constitute the human nervous system. Just as nerves transmit signals to and from different parts of the body, urban wires transmit electrical power throughout the entire city, connecting its different neighbourhoods. In both the human nervous system and urban electrical infrastructure, there is for sure an underlying meaning within an apparent chaos. 

Usually hidden and invisible to the naked eye, the cables are omnipresent in Valencia, slicing the landscape in colour swatches and invading the textured facades with their black webs. They can display abstract shapes or form a distinctive pattern; they can be organised or intertwined, raw or painted, and sometimes all at once. Still, beyond their simple appearance and functionality, these tangled wires embody the development of a technology that changed the face and habits of the city.



Electricity in the City
            HIGHLIGHTS


1771

The first public lighting was established in Valencia in 1771 using 2850 oil lamps. However, this service was costly and directly paid for by the homeowners on the illuminated streets.

1844

Coal gas, economical and abundant, replaces vegetable oil. The company E. Lebon et Cie (future Gas Lebón) undertook the installation of lighting, fostering the creation of the first high-investment industrial sector in Valencia. On October 9th of that year, the Glorieta was illuminated.

1882

Valencia became the third Spanish city to enjoy the arrival of electricity. Barcelona was the first, followed shortly by Madrid. The newly founded Spanish Society of Electricity began operating in Valencia at the end of 1882. In November 82, dozens of neighbours gathered to witness lamps being lit for the first time with electric light at Casa Conejos, an old shop on San Vicente Street.

1883

The Valencian Society of Electricity was then created in early 1883. Bringing electricity to Valencia in the late 19th century was not an easy task. The structures were still old, and everything had to be built. Furthermore, electricity production was mainly conditioned by the presence of a watercourse to transform hydraulic energy into electricity or proximity to a railway line facilitating the supply of coal for thermoelectricity. One of the main problems was the difficulties in distributing electricity over long distances.

1908

Public lighting benefited from this technological advance, replacing gas lamps installed throughout the second half of the 19th century. Merchants were among the first to hire the services of the recently contracted companies to illuminate their shops and storefronts. In 1908, the City Council of Valencia signed a thirty-year contract for public electric lighting services with Hidroeléctrica Española, although this exclusivity did not extend to electricity distribution. In the early years, most of the energy supplied by thermal power plants was dedicated to public lighting, with only 10% for private residencies.

The Júcar river played a crucial role in this history, as Hidroeléctrica Española used the river’s falls for the production and distribution of electricity to the capitals of Madrid and Valencia. The first goal was the construction of the Molinar dam, eighty kilometres from Valencia. The completion of the project took just over two years, during which the decision was made to expand the facilities to also serve Murcia and Cartagena, with intermediate stations in Alcoi, Alicante, and other consumption centres. In Valencia, after Hidroeléctrica Española had signed the 1908 contract for public electric lighting, an underground distribution network and three overhead lines were established, two for the tram service to Torrent and Catarroja and another for the Sociedad Sierra Menera in Sagunto. The consumption of electrical energy continued to grow.

Post-War

The Civil War and the post-war period slowed down the recovery. Yet, the demand for electricity increased so much that it forced Hidroeléctrica Española to plan new hydroelectric power plants and the Cofrentes nuclear power plant, in addition to thermal power plants and new, more sustainable forms of energy generation, such as the advent of wind and photovoltaic energy.





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This project was also shared on the .xyz platform and shown in Valencia, Spain in 2018.