Atlas Turistico de Espana

An unusual ‘tourist atlas’ from Francoist Spain.

This fascinating, though unfortunately incomplete, atlas was created by Bescos-Dolcet to promote the diverse catalog of A. Wassermann & Cie, an Italian pharmaceutical company with close financial and production ties to Spain. Each of the nineteen sheets (of 42 total) folds like a brochure and features a color centerfold map that notes primary infrastructure, transportation routes, geographic features, local industries, and notable landmarks.

The Spanish territory covered by the index on the verso includes portions of North Africa and the Canary Islands. Also included are a variety of colorful advertisements for a plethora of Wassman products (some made with arsenic) – mostly medicine for common ailments and dietary supplements. Likely published in the late 1940s or early 1950s, after the company’s commercial introduction of sulfa drugs in 1942.