At the dawn of the automobile: The relevance of roads to tourism in the 1920s

Abstract

In a turbulent period for Portuguese history such as the 1920s, the development of the car use and tourism went hand in hand. However, this union was ephemeral, lasting for less than a decade. The results in the development of tourism and accessibility proved to be poor, keeping the country behind when compared to other European countries. With the change in the political regime, the political organization also changed, separating the entities responsible for road development and tourism.