Spanish inventions

If you thought that the best Spanish inventions were limited to tapas and the siesta, think again. Many everyday items available worldwide were first created in Spain. Here are seven great Spanish inventions, their inventors and their legacy.

The submarine (no, not the sandwich)

One of the first submarine prototypes was designed and built by Narciso Monturiol from Catalunya, but it was Isaac Peral from Murcia with his steel submarine launched in 1888 who revolutionised underwater navigation. You can visit Peral’s submarine at the port in Cartagena.

The mop (essential in all Spanish homes)

Manuel Jalon, an air force engineer, wondered why it was necessary for women to still be washing floors on their knees back in 1956. He attached a broom handle to a bunch of cotton strips and also devised a bucket in which the mop could be wrung by means of a set of rollers attached to a foot pedal.

Chupa Chups (so many flavours, which one to choose?)

Enric Bernat had the idea to place a wooden stick inside a sweet back in 1958. Some say that his idea was to stop mothers from telling off their children for having sticky hands, whilst others say it was to avoid a choking hazard (before the days of health & safety!). The wooden stick was replaced by plastic a few years later and in 1970 the company started to sell Chupa Chups abroad. Nowadays more than four billion units are sold each year in 150 countries.

Did you know that the Chupa Chups company also brought Smints to the market?

The helicopter (well, the autogyro)

Juan de la Cierva, from Murcia, created the first autogyro that was flown in 1923 at the Cuatro Vientos airbase in Madrid. The ability of the autogyro to take off and land in a limited space gave it an advantage over traditional aircraft and was the predecessor of the modern-day helicopter.

The Molotov cocktail (when they were called neither Molotov nor cocktail)

During the Spanish civil war improvised incendiary devices were used, normally by filling a glass jam jar with petrol and covering with a heavy material tied up with string. The name Molotov cocktail was later used by the Finns in 1939 who refined the jam jar contents to included kerosene, tar and other chemicals.

The cable car (which can still be used at Niagara Falls)

Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, from Cantabria, built the first cable car in 1887 spanning 200 metres. His original cable car was pulled by cows and had a single log seat, however it served its purpose to allow him to apply for a patent. Later on he designed a system for passenger transport which when presented in Switzerland was dismissed. He went on to design cable cars in several countries and his Whirlpool Aero Car still exists over a section of the Niagara River.

The first electromechanical calculator and a chess machine (that never lost a game)

Once again Torres y Quevedo was the inventor of several mechanical devices used to solve algebraic equations. His arithmometer was presented in Paris in 1920 and his chess machine could be used to play chess against a human automatically. Not only did the chess machine calculate its moves, it also included mechanical arms that moved the pieces. The machine could spot illegal moves, but as it was set up to always start from the same point the machine could never lose a game.

Maxine Raynor

Maxine Raynor has lived in Spain since 1987. She currently runs the website MoneySaverSpain.com when not sniggering at Google translated Spanish websites!