Oil Company Road Maps from Spain
Oil Company Road Maps from Spain |
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The Spanish petroleum industry was only briefly open to major international companies such as Shell, Standard Oil and France's Desmarais Frères (which used the brand Automovilina), before a national petrol distribution monopoly was established in 1927 - Campsa, the Cia Arrendataria del Monopolio de Petroleos SA. After Spain's accession to the European Community, the state was required to divest itself of the monopoly and in 1992 opened up the downstream petrol markets to competition. However the split was made on the basis of refining capacity, and another former State owned company, Repsol, ended up with around 60% of the market including the rights to the Campsa brand. Around 30% of the market went to Cepsa (in a joint venture with Elf, now part of Total) and 10% to BP following its purchase of Petromed.
Over the past decade or so, other companies have entered the market including Shell, Esso, Agip (with its Portuguese partner Galp), Tamoil and - in the Canaries only - Texaco. These have been joined by a number of local names such as Meroil, Petrocat and Esergui, which uses the AVIA co-operative's brand.
No maps issued by oil companies are known from before the establishment of Campsa.
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The lack of tradition of maps at service stations has perhaps contributed to very few examples being produced since the market was liberalised. In addition to the Campsa guide, which is still produced, though mainly for sale at Repsol service stations, Repsol produces annual guides under its own name to Cataluña and Galicia, as well as guide to the Basque Country under the branding of its Petronor subsidiary. |
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As Spain was a popular holiday destination, most of the larger European oil companies included small scale maps of the country (usually linked with Portugal to cover the entire Iberian peninsula) for their touring service. Indeed, the Fina map shown below says "The PETROFINA Group, through the intermediary of its INTERNATIONAL TOURING SERVICE takes pleasure in offering this road map to FINA customers, with best wishes for a pleasant journey.
"Although the FINA brand is not represented in Spain, do not forget that wherever you see the FINA shield displayed in other countries, you may be assured of efficient and courteous service."
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The ten maps above represent the variety of non-domestic issues of Spain and Portugal that can be found. From L-R they are:
Top row
Esso, 1958, General Drafting Co (USA), 1:3 million
BP, 1959, Blondel la Rougery (France), ~1:3.75 million (this map does include Portugal, despite the cover)
BP, ca1960, John Bartholomew (UK), 1:2.5 million
Fina, 1962, Falk-Plan (Netherlands), 1:1,250,000
Shell, 1962, Foldex France, ~1:2.3 million
Bottom row
Shell, 1965, Foldex France, ~1:2.3 million
Esso, 1967, George Philip Printers (UK), 1:1.5 million
Pollet (stickered onto stock map), 1984, Spectrum/RV Reise (Belgium), 1:800,000
Aral, 1997, Busche (Germany), 1:1 million
Esso, 1998, Hallwag (Switzerland, but for Esso Germany), 1:1 million
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The final map is exceptional, as it comes from a series of eight Shell "cartoguia", similar to the French or Greek cartoguides, and dating from 1968. It is presumed that these were on sale in Spain, possibly at service stations that sold Shell lubricants, but they may have only been available through booksellers, or even French or other Shell stations. |
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Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 2004-7 |
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Campsa itself does not appear to have ever sold sheet maps, but around 1981 the Campsa Guia (guide) was started as a tall format spiral bound atlas and guide to the country, with a map section followed by a gazetteer featuring hotels and restaurants. In 1987, there were 34 folding maps to cover the country at 1:500,000, using cartography by Almax Editores. By the 1996 (fifteenth) edition it had grown into a thicker volume with 95 pages of fold-out maps by Falk at 1:300,000, plus over 350 pages of gazetteer. Recent editions have included supplements for restaurants and CD-ROMs for interactive route planning, as well as de-luxe versions with vinyl covers or a presentation box. The 1992 supplement was a small format guide with basic maps to "the three capitals": Barcelona (Olympics), Madrid (European city of culture) and Sevilla (Expo 92).
