Elena de Borbón y de Muguiro

Getting around

Long hours for stagecoach travel

A journey by stagecoach between Manzanares and Granada took 30 hours, while a mule-drawn diligence trip from Granada to Jaen lasted nine hours.

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

Segovian festive wool and velvet skirt

A Segovian festive skirt was made of red Merino wool and featured horizontal bands of black patterned velvet.

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.