Compañía Transatlántica Española

Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE), also known as Spanish Line in documents in English, is a passenger ocean line that has largely ceased operations although it still exists as a company. It is popularly known as "La Trasatlántica" in the Spanish language (Catalan: "La Transatlàntica").

The Compañía Transatlántica Española's first office in Spain was in Santander in the 19th century and its head office was transferred to Barcelona after Antonio López y López, the owner of the company, married Catalan lady, Dona Lluïsa Bru Lassús.

"La Trasatlántica" was established in colonial Cuba in 1850 as "Compañia de Vapores Correos A. López" by Spanish businessman Don Antonio López y López. It began operations with a 400-ton hybrid sailing ship-sidewheel steamer.

Antonio López was ennobled with the title of Marquis of Comillas in 1878. His company changed its name to "Compañía Transatlántica Española", its present name, after being registered as a in 1881. Following the Marquis of Comillas's death in 1883, his fourth son, Don Claudio López Bru, took charge of the company. By 1894 the Compañía Transatlántica Española fleet reached 33 vessels with a total of 93.500 registered tonnes.

During the 1898 Spanish–American War, 21 CTE ocean liners were used by the Spanish Navy as auxiliary vessels in order to assist in the war effort. They tried to break the blockade that the United States were imposing on Cuba and the Philippines, the last great colonies of the Spanish crown, but were mostly unsuccessful.

In 1920, after the difficult years of the First World War the Compañía Transatlántica embarked on a considerable expansion and modernization of its fleet. It worked together with the "Sociedad Estatal de Construcción Naval", a Spanish shipbuilding company, in this effort. CTE built well-equipped and luxurious ocean-going steamships that could compete with the best shipping companies of the planet. Claudio López Bru, second Marquis of Comillas, died in 1925.

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Wikipedia