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The railway of Francesc Gumà

Vilanova i la Geltrú, Garraf, Barcelona

1 Villages · 10 Monuments · 1 Nature · 3 Activities · 2 Curiosities · 4 Historical milestones · 3 Food and drink

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The railway of Francesc Gumà

Historical milestone · Vilanova i la Geltrú, Garraf, Barcelona

Image of Vilanova i la Geltrú, not of the place itself.

Francesc Gumà i Ferran was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú in 1833 and, at seventeen, after his father's death, set off to seek his fortune in Matanzas, Cuba, where at eighteen he was appointed manager of a port warehouse and at nineteen, its director; with his brothers he also founded the shipping agency Gumá Hermanos. Back in Vilanova in 1857, he strengthened his business ties with the Garraf and Penedès comarques. With the capital raised in Cuba he promoted the direct railway line from Barcelona to Valls along the coast, built between 1881 and 1884, which ended the Garraf's isolation and drew workshops and shipyards to the comarca.

1881-1884

Photo: Enric (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What to see and do in Vilanova i la Geltrú