This article examines the ownership structure and management of the Compania de los Ferrocarriles del Norte de Espana (Norte) and the Madrid to Zaragoza & Alicante Railway Company (MZA), the two most important railway companies in Spain between 1858 and 1941, when the network was nationalised. When the companies were established, the majority of the shareholders were French. From the end of the nineteenth century, Spanish investors had begun to buy equity, and by 1924 Spanish banks could finally exert control over Norte, but the French Rothschild family retained control of MZA. During this period the Spanish state also started to intervene in the railway system and in the leading railway companies.
Résumé Cet article examine les raisons pourquoi les chemins de fer ont été nationalisés sous le régime de Franco. La propension des premiers gouvernements franquistes à intervenir activement dans l’économie et dans les services publics n’est pas le seul facteur expliquant cette nationalisation. Elle a certes accéléré le processus, mais elle a été aidée par le fait que le système antérieur de concessions pour construire et exploiter les lignes de chemin de fer souffrait de problèmes sérieux. Ce qui ne devait être qu’une régulation du secteur a laissé place à une intervention croissante de l’État qui, à son tour, a abouti à la nationalisation.
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