[Based on texts by Vicente Miralles, Vicente Ortega and the Historical Forum of Telecommunications].

The telecommunications training becomes institutionalized on October 6, 1852 with the creation of Escuela de Aplicación de Telégrafos.

A Royal Decree in 1913 creates the Escuela de Estudios Superiores de Telecomunicación with three sections of different levels, one of which is dedicated to higher education.

Another Royal Decree in April 22, 1920 created the title of Telecommunications Engineer "in order to place the scientific level of the Spanish Telegraphers to live up to those in other European countries that hold similar titles and enable their possessors to study, raise and solve the most difficult problems of Telecommunications ", which initially could only access Officers of the Corp of Telegraphs, after four years of studies and after an opposition.

Professional responsibilities

La Gaceta de Madrid on January 10, 1931 includes the Royal Decree 119 by which the professional responsibilities are stated for telecommunications engineer, in which, for example, its first article states that : "The title of Telecommunications Engineer empowers their holders to project all kinds of facilities and  telegraphic , telephone and radio centrals, lines and remote electric  communication  devices through the spoken or written word, music, facsimile, photograph or on television and how many procedures   the progress of the technique allows to use in telecommunication and all the applications, such as sound Cinematography, whose elements are similar or identical to those used in telecommunications ".

Subsequently, the growing demand for graduates forced to modify the access system, and from 1935 onwards can attend free all those who wish to pursue their studies. From its early days the school has been training and graduating qualified professionals in Engineering for the functions required by the incessant development of telecommunications and the associated electronic techniques .

With the law of 1957, the Official Schools of Engineering organically become dependent on the Ministry of Education and Science, of a General Directorate of Technical Education, and change its denomination to be renamed as «Escuelas Técnicas Superiores de Ingenieros» of the relevant specialty.  In this way it took a first step to integrate the teaching of engineering within the set of higher education but were not yet within the scope of the University

In February 1965 it took a further step in the incorporation of the teachings of engineering at the university level with authorization to group Technical Schools in Polytechnic Institutes and Universities , and the Instituto Politécnico Superior de Madrid  which brought together nine Schools  existing then:  Arquitectura;Aeronáuticos;Agrónomos; Caminos, Canales y Puertos; Industriales; Minas; Montes;Navales, y Telecomunicación. The president of the Institute was considered a rector of the University (Decree 109/1966 of February 2 and 171/1966 of 16 June).

In 1971 are created the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, only ones that have existed with that name until 2000, in which the Polytechnic University of Cartagena was created.

More information: Historical Telecommunication Fórum