Telecommunications in Spain is accomplished through the transmission of information by various types of technologies withinSpain.
Telephone calls began being made in Spain in the late 19th century, around the time when the state took control of phone services, which in turn granted the operation of the service to private bodies.[1]
In the early and mid 20th century, Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España (CTNE) effectively monopolised Spanish telecommunications, which was founded in 1924. The same year, a submarine telephone cable connectingAlgeciras with the territory ofCeuta facilitated cross-strait communication during theRif War.[2] In 1926, twoswitchboards were set up inSantander andMadrid, the latter byAlfonso XIII.
During his rule,Francisco Franco became a major shareholder in CTNE, and recentralised state control of telecommunications. In 1957, the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona fibre optic cable was installed. However, public telephones were not installed until the 1960s. As of 2015, there were around 25,000 remaining public phones in Spain.[3]
| Logo | Operator | Subscribers (in millions) | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Jazztel | 16,187,000 mobile | Orange |
 | Movistar | 41,547,000 | Telefonica |
| Vodafone | 8,000,000 | Vodafone | |
| Massmovil | 14,000,000 movile | Massmovil |
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2025 ed.).CIA.
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