Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera

Getting around

Road travel was frequently at walking pace

Road conditions were often so poor that mule-drawn omnibuses could travel no faster than a walking pace, sometimes requiring passengers to disembark while drivers repaired the road with stones.

At the table

Common dishes for ordinary families

Ordinary families relied on simple meals like puchero, a slow-boiled stew of chickpeas, potatoes, and sometimes meat, or gazpacho, a cold vegetable soup with bread and oil. Breakfast for many working-class people was often just a jicara of chocolate with a roll.

What people wore

Dancing fashion and skirt lengths

Women's festive dancing attire often included long tails, though young unmarried women were expected to wear shorter, ground-length skirts.

Music

Traditional dances of the seises choir boys

At the Seville Cathedral, choir boys known as seises performed traditional dances for Catholic festivities, often accompanied by castanets and singing.

Daily life

Struggling to balance household budgets

A working-class family budget often faced a deficit, with food expenses accounting for approximately 60 percent of essential costs, while rent represented about 11 percent. To make ends meet, families relied on extra income from odd jobs, such as carrying travelers' luggage to inns when trains arrived.