Spain’s main company for travelling in the ocean was Compañía Transatlántica Española, known as Spanish Line in English.

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It started in 1849 with voyages from Mainland Spain to Cuba, then a Spanish colony. Though younger than its Portuguese counterparts, the Spanish Line had only success until 1898, when it lost Cuba and the Philippines (Spanish Colony until 1898), which made their ships small compare with larger international liners.

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They started modernizing their company in 1912 with two new ships: the Reina Victoria-Eugenia and Infanta Isabel de Borbon. During WW1, the liner Carlos de Eizaguirre sunk off Robben Island due to a sea mine. Nobody knows who planted there, since the Spanish accused the British and the British accused the German raider SMS Wolf. After the war, the Line continue to modernize the fleet, and when the Second Spanish Republic came to power in 1931, all ships with royal names were changed.

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During the Civil War (1936 – 1939), many ships were destroyed, but this was the beginning of their downfall. In the 1950’s, the company started recovering, but due to the plane overtaking the ocean liner, the company liquidated their ships in the 1960’s. Their Portuguese counterparts were still sailing by 1974 when the final ship was liquidated. The company continue to exist, without making a voyage until September 2012, when it was defunct.