Cuerpo de Telegrafos: First Attempts to Create a Professional Body for Electrical Communications in Spain

The Body of Telegraphists ("Cuerpo de Telegrafos", in Spanish) was established in Spain in 1856 in order to operate the electric telegraph service and later to develop a national-wide telegraph network. The origins of this professional body and the way it was formed with people from the optical telegraphy field of activity will be described. It will also be explained how these people were educated in techniques and methods related to electrical telegraphy. In addition, it will be described how the creation of the Body of Telegraphists caused a conflict with the Body of Civil Engineers, which was the responsible for the development of the optical telegraph network.