"Art of the Airport Tower" Barcelona El-Prat Airport

Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
November 10, 2015
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Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Barcelona El-Prat Airport, Spain 1965

Barcelona's first airport, an airfield at El Remolar, opened in 1916. It relocated in 1918 to El-Prat. Initially used by the Aeroclub of Catalonia, it also became the base for the Spanish navy's fleet of airships. Barcelona El-Prat began commercial air service in 1927 and is now the second largest airport in Spain, after Madrid. It has undergone several transformations over the years. Two of its three towers are no longer in service. Designed by Eduardo Aguirre, this one from 1965 stands 15 meters (50 feet) tall.

The photograph is a part of Art of the Airport Tower, an exhibition that explores contemporary and historical air traffic control towers in the U.S. and around the world. 

Image by Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution