Marià Faura i Sans i el Servei del Mapa Geològic de Catalunya (1914-1924)

This paper studies the process of geological cartography undertaken by Catalan institutions from the moment Almera resigned as director (1914) until the Map
Service was suspended (1924). This period coincides almost exactly with the term of the first autonomous government of Catalonia of the modern era, the
“Mancomunitat de Catalunya”, created from the federation of the four Catalan provincial councils.
The period can be divided into three parts. During the first, attempts were made to continue the geological cartography of the province of Barcelona along the same
lines as those followed by Almera-Brossa’s team over the previous three decades. In the second part, the intention was to extend the cartography to all four provinces. In the third phase, the project was suspended and a new geological map was initiated
at a 1:100.000 scale, in co-ordination with the Geographical Map Service of the Mancomunitat.
By express desire of Almera, Marià Faura i Sans, MS and geologist, became the director of the Map Service. A former colleague of Almera’s and an admirer of Font
i Sagué, Marià Faura i Sans wrote his doctoral thesis on the Catalan Palaeozoic. He was also publicly known as a scientific hiker, a speleologist, a hydrogeologist and
publicist.
In 1915 the Provincial Geologic and Topographic Map was taken over by the Institute of Catalan Studies. It had until then been directed by Almera and Brossa.
It was soon transferred to the Science Board but was not assigned any concrete organisation. The extension of the 1:40.000 geological map to the four provinces remained a project only and was suspended in 1920 due to lack of funding. Between 1918 and 1924 the Map Service was managed by the Science Board, a body composed of representatives from the City Hall and the Regional Council of Barcelona. At this time the only person involved with Map Service was the director,
and the little funding that existed had to be shared with a section (Palaeontology) of the Natural History Museum. Notwithstanding, and mostly thanks to the previous work of Almera and also of Vilaseca and Bataller, the directors’ assistants who worked without
payment in the organisation, Faura managed to complete seven sheets of the 1:100.000
map, of which four were published complete with an explanatory booklet.
When the dictator Primo de Rivera came to power, the Mancomunitat decided to amalgamate its three cartographic services (Geographic, Geologic and
Agronomic). Faura was no longer the director, having been relieved of his duties as a civil servant, and the patrimony of the Map Service was taken over completely by the Geographic Service. However, with the dissolution of the Mancomunitat, this Service was returned to its original provincial status and most of its capacity was lost. Hurt by the exclusion, Faura withdrew from scientific societies and also from the church, and from then on devoted his time to the practice of applied geology. Despite Faura’s meritorious task, the Map Service never really got underway. This was due to a multitude of reasons: political instability, doubts over the choice of an adequate scale, failure of the institutions to provide appropriate organisation,
funding and administrative reserves, inadequate scientific and administrative environment at the time, and excessive identification of the Service in a single person.
Nevertheless, the Geological Map Service represented a first attempt of the Catalan institutions to dispose of an organisation dedicated exclusively to geological
studies. As an example of its achievements, we still have the published sheets of the Map. Their importance stands out as a precedent: the Map Service’s ties with the Museum contributed to making the Martorell Museum a true geological museum. The inheritance of the Map Service was decisive for the creation of future homologous institutions within the Catalan administrative network, and at the same time, it
contributed to the development of an important geological laboratory in the Department of Geology of the University of Barcelona.

Key words: Science history, 20th century, Geology, Cartography, Spain,
Catalonia, Geological Map Service of Catalonia, Mariano Faura y Sans.