Issue date: 30 Mar, 2021
COMMEMORATIVE STAMPS. 140TH ANNIVERSARY MADRID DELICIAS STATION
Delicias station was opened on 30 March 1880 by King Alfonso XII and Queen María Cristina. More than 30 years had passed since the first railway line had been created on mainland Spain, a 28-kilometre stretch between Barcelona and Mataró, in 1848.
The last train left Delicias in 1969, and fifteen years later the building was to become the Madrid-Delicias Railway Museum.
The station was originally designed as the start of the Madrid-Ciudad Real-Badajoz line.
Delicias became the terminal of the line from Madrid to Cáceres and Portugal, as an international station linking two European capitals, Madrid and Lisbon, with direct trains and plenty of goods and passengers traffic.
Today the station is more popular than ever as one of the most attractive museums in the city of Madrid.
The architecture of the station itself, and especially its unique canopy, attest to the history and the stories which happened there. In the station’s central nave are over thirty vehicles of great historical value, including steam, diesel and electric engines, autorails, and passenger carriages.
The history of the railway in Spain is closely linked to the history of the Post Office. For this and many more reasons, Correos has devoted a stamp to this iconic station in homage to its 140th anniversary.
The main motif of the stamp is an illustration of a locomotive in movement with the station in the background, with lines suggesting smoke coming out of the engine chimney.
The stamp’s black and white scheme is striking, and recalls the not-so-distant past when Madrid Delicias station was bustling with luggage, goods and passengers coming and going, each with their own story to tell.
Rate A - €0.75. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, up to 20 g.
Rate A2 - €0.85. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, between 20 g and 50 g.
Rate B - €1.65. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to Europe (including Greenland), up to 20 g.
Rate C - €1.75. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the rest of the world (except USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), up to 20 g.
Rate D - €2.10. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, up to 20 g.