Lost professions of Xàbia: Telegraph operator. The story of Ramón Vidal

Nowadays we send immediate messages from a distance, but what was 'remote writing' like more than half a century ago? Throughout history, communication has evolved through various systems until the arrival of telegraphy, whose literal meaning is 'remote writing'. For several decades, the telegraph was the only system of communication between people, a fast but at the same time complex service.

Those who worked in this profession remember it with nostalgia, recalling the times when they 'chatted with everyone' through a system that emitted and received signals using a code of electrical impulses.

Telegraph – Morse code keyer and receiver

To find out more about this forgotten profession, we spoke to Ramón Vidal, a resident of Xàbia who experienced this trade first-hand in the three locations he had in the town. Vidal still remembers with emotion the rhythmic sound of the Morse Code. At 83 years old, his memory preserves the years in which his hands interpreted the electrical impulses that connected people from a distance and he remembers a large part of the Morse alphabet. He was a telegraph operator in Xàbia, where he carried out a trade that has now disappeared, but which marked his life forever.

Ramón Vidal, last head of the Xàbia Telegraph Office

Destination, Xàbia

Vidal was born in Onteniente, and his future seemed uncertain after finishing high school. At 16 he started working in a factory, but his salary was meager and he did not see a good future. It was then that his father, also a telegraph operator, told him that there were competitions to join the telecommunications corps. Ramón then studied Morse, typing, telegraphy and general culture. At 19, he obtained a position as a mixed telecommunications assistant and was assigned to Xàbia in 1960, a place that, without knowing it, would become his permanent home, when he met his wife here.

Early years in the telegraph office

When he arrived in the town of Xàbia on 10 April 1960, the telegraph office was on Calle Mayor, and he began his work there with four other people: two delivery men, two operational assistants and a maintenance attendant. «Xàbia welcomed me with open arms. My idea was to be close to home and to be able to gradually get closer to my town, but when I arrived here I noticed the change compared to my municipality: here the people were more approachable and hospitable. There was a contrast between the industrial society of Onteniente and the rural society of Xàbia; there was a class struggle there, while here the people were more open and friendly. You always had the doors open in any house or group», recalls Ramón, who adds «my first days here were in boarding houses and in family homes, I was well looked after».

Calle Mayor in Xàbia where the telegraph office was located in the 60s

Life in the telegraph office was busy, “and although you might not believe it, there was a huge volume of messages to send, especially during the Christmas period.” Ramón explains that “telegrams and radiograms were transmitted using Morse code, but when telegraphic communication evolved, Morse was left behind, giving way to teletype, typing and punching machines, which also transmitted coded messages. The cost of these messages was per number of words, so each message was usually short and concise.”

International Morse Code

Our protagonist today explains that there was also an urgent delivery service that had priority over the others, “we would leave the delivery we had and make the urgent one, it took precedence over all and even, already at that time, money transfers were made through telegraphic transfer, in which we used another type of code.” Vidal remembers one of the anecdotes, “one day some women came to send money to their sons who were in the Balearic Islands doing their military service and needed to buy some musical instruments - over time we found out they were the Bradmis. The amount arrived quickly, since it was only a matter of filling out a form, collecting the money, issuing the communication and at the destination they would deliver the money to the recipient. But this immediacy caused confusion in other neighbours who came later wanting to send physical packages with the same speed, claiming that Telegrafos was faster than Correos and they wanted to send by this means.”

The evolution of communication and the end of the telegraph

From Calle Mayor, the office moved to Calle Virgen de los Ángeles, but with the expansion of the telephone, the telegraph lost importance and only the burofax was used. In the 90s, telegrams stopped being sent and Correos and Telégrafos merged. It was then that the current Correos office was installed, in Plaza Marina Alta.

Old square in front of the Post Office, building located on the left | Photo AMX

Ramón, who was then head of telegraphs, had to adapt to the new functions of the postal service, which he found more complex. Although he took on the role of head of the Post Office, his true passion was always telegraphy: "I was chosen for my experience, but what I really liked was my profession. Telegraphy had something magical, I remember these years fondly."

Telegraph – Acoustic Morse

With the disappearance of the telegraph, the fax machine was the only residual communication system left. Today, the telegraph is only a memory, there is hardly a trace of what was once the main means of communication between people. However, this profession and all its functioning, now disappeared, are still present in Ramón's memory.

telegraph – bar switch

Xàbia, communications centre

It is worth noting that Xàbia, together with Dénia, were the only two towns that had this type of office, receiving daily communications to be issued from the rest of the towns in the Marina Alta, with Xàbia taking charge of the municipalities in the south of the region and Dénia of the north.

All telegraph stations were provided with their own earth connection. The Jávea office had a direct line in permanent connection with the Alicante Centre with teletype installation, another direct line with the Station of the Cape San AntonioCalled The Traffic Light, communicated by Morse and in charge of passing on various weather reports daily, which, received at the Jávea Office, were passed on to Alicante; another direct line with the Casa del Cable; another direct line with Benissa and Calp to which all telegraph services were transmitted and received.

→The 'traffic light' of Cabo de San Antonio de Xàbia: history of an abandoned electro-traffic light and telegraph station

For many years, the latter two were operated by Morse code until the 1970s, when these offices were equipped with teletype machines, and Jávea continued to be the call office for all traffic from both offices. Other additional lines allowed communication with Valencia, Gandía or Denia. In other words, it was an office of some importance.