Public communications are of paramount importance. They are the true vehicle that brings civilization. The Mancomunitat built 1,700 km of roads. It also brought telephone service to 500 towns in Catalonia, thanks to a network of telephone lines over 5,500 km long. In spite of these difficulties, the Mancomunitat undertook railroad projects and waterworks.

One hundred years later, the Diputació of Barcelona is greatly indebted to the public works projects completed by the Mancomunitat, and they repair and manage 1,600 km of roads, trails, and bridges.

On January 1, 1915, the technical department for public works was established, and the Mancomunitat put them in charge of maintaining roads that depended on the diputacions of Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona in good condition. The Mancomunitat would not be in charge of roads in Barcelona until January 1, 1916. From that point on, the Mancomunitat of Catalonia would be able to develop a comprehensive public works plan.

Among the completed projects, noteworthy ones were the placing of milestones every kilometer and every one hundred kilometers on roads and trails belonging to the diputacions of Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona; the placing of all kinds of road signs, from the ones indicating the name of towns when entering and exiting them, to signs on forks of the road and beginning of roads. These last ones were also used to warn people that they were close to a place they needed to have extra care in order to avoid an accident, such as railroad crossings with barriers, other roads, dangerous fords, sharp curves, or windy roads.

Every year, during the appropriate season, trees planted right next to roads and trails were checked for problems. They were periodically pollarded or pruned, and the fruit they yielded was harvested and sold in public auctions.

Town roads and trails repairs and improvements

Once all services were transferred in 1920, with the exception of those pertaining by law to other corporations, every year roads in need of repair were chosen after a public auction was held between the towns and service companies interested in the projects.

Scenic Trails

In some high mountain regions, there are old animal trails that, due to the special circumstances in the towns and lands they go through, became essential to having access and enjoying the surrounding landscape. The Assembly of the Mancomunitat, in its eighth meeting, approved a list of some of these trails for reconstruction, for a total of 540 kilometers, all of them having in common a strong emphasis on mountain tourism.

Building of roads, trails, and bridges

Right after the Mancomunitat was established, the Permanent Council debated about the need and opportunity of applying to the second public offer of subsidies for the construction of local roads and small bridges that had just been issued by the Spanish government.

In November 21, 1914, the Spanish government signed an agreement which granted the Mancomunitat the right to build a certain number of town roads and bridges all over Catalonia, although it was part of the subsidies from the Spanish government to the four provinces, and limited by a series of conditions predetermined by both parties.