A trip back 25 years ago: 15 things that didn’t exist yet
From the euro and the AVE to YouTube and the iPhone, a look back at how different life was in Spain in 2001
It’s hard to believe now, but 2001 really was a different world.As the saying goes, “time flies”, and looking back 25 years makes that particularly clear. Some things we now take completely for granted simply weren’t part of everyday life yet.
For people living in Spain, there are some especially striking examples.
Spain before the euro, AVE and same-sex marriage
If you were living in Spain in 2001, you wouldn’t have been paying for your shopping with euro notes and coins. Although the euro had been introduced as the official currency in 1999, cash didn’t arrive in Spain until January 1, 2002.
High-speed rail was also very different. Spain’s first AVE line had opened in 1992, but the high-speed train between Madrid and Barcelona didn’t begin operating until February 20, 2008.
And some major social changes were still several years away. Same-sex marriage was not yet legal in Spain. The law allowing it came into effect on July 3, 2005.
Smoking was also still permitted in many bars and restaurants. The ban covering all enclosed hospitality spaces did not come into effect until January 2, 2011.
There were some very different sporting headlines too. Spain had yet to win a men’s or women’s World Cup, while Rafael Nadal was still only 15 and had not made his professional tennis debut.
And Princess Leonor hadn’t even been born. She arrived on October 31, 2005.
A world without YouTube or Facebook
It’s perhaps the technology changes that make 2001 feel most distant.
YouTube didn’t exist. The platform was created in February 2005, with its first video uploaded on April 23 that year.
Facebook was also still three years away, having started in February 2004.
The iPhone was even further into the future. Apple unveiled its first model on January 9, 2007, before it went on sale on June 29.
Then there are the things that sound almost strange to younger generations. Pluto was still officially classed as one of the nine planets, while the Burj Khalifa had not even started construction.
Even the International Space Station looked very different
The International Space Station was still being assembled in 2001. Its first module, Zarya, had been launched in November 1998, but construction would continue for years.
And Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was still alive. She had been born in 1996 and would live until February 14, 2003.
Frozen? That was still more than a decade away. Disney’s film premiered in the United States on November 27, 2013.
Twenty-five years may not sound like a huge stretch of time, but looking at what wasn’t around in 2001 makes just how much the world has changed rather clear.
Image: AI generated
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