The development of motor vehicles and their mass production and consumption during the first decades of the twentieth century had significant economic and social effects. The developed Atlantic countries, world leaders in vehicle production, were the protagonists of the success of the car. However, the globalization brought about by the second industrial revolution drew in other countries on the periphery, thanks to transport technologies, telecommunications, and the media. Thus, the consumption patterns and lifestyles of the ‘centres’ and the ‘peripheries’ tended to become more uniform, especially among the urban population. This included an interest in travelling and leisure activities in general. The link between the use of motor vehicles and new tourism practices in Spain between 1918 and 1939 provides an excellent viewpoint from which both to analyse the country's economic and social transformation during this period and to relativize the degree of backwardness observed in Spain in other studies. In this respect, we provide evidence which shows that, despite being a country of the so-called European periphery, Spain had similar patterns of consumption of durable consumer goods, such as the motor vehicle, as other, more advanced countries. There is therefore room to reconsider what has been termed ‘Spanish backwardness’.

二十世纪头几十年机动车辆的发展及其大规模生产和消费产生了重大的经济和社会影响。发达国家的大西洋国家是汽车生产的世界领导者，是汽车成功的主角。然而，由于交通技术、电信和媒体，第二次工业革命带来的全球化吸引了其他周边国家。因此，“中心”和“周边”的消费模式和生活方式趋于趋于一致，尤其是在城市人口中。这包括对旅行和一般休闲活动的兴趣。1918 年至 1939 年间西班牙机动车辆的使用与新的旅游实践之间的联系提供了一个极好的观点，从中可以分析该国在此期间的经济和社会转型，并将其他研究中观察到的西班牙的落后程度相对化。在这方面，我们提供的证据表明，尽管西班牙是所谓的欧洲外围国家，但其耐用消费品（例如机动车）的消费模式与其他更先进的国家相似。因此，有空间重新考虑所谓的“西班牙落后”。尽管是所谓的欧洲外围国家，但西班牙的耐用消费品（例如汽车）消费模式与其他更先进的国家相似。因此，有空间重新考虑所谓的“西班牙落后”。尽管是所谓的欧洲外围国家，但西班牙的耐用消费品（例如汽车）消费模式与其他更先进的国家相似。因此，有空间重新考虑所谓的“西班牙落后”。