The world of Spanish pinball is, like everything that surrounds the universe of the original recreational machines in our country, a fascinating topic. With more than 600 different models and no less than 70 manufacturers, only the United States surpasses our country in abundance and variety of tables. Present in our bars and arcades since the fifties (during the Second Republic, known as “Roman billiards”, they were prohibited, and during the Franco regime there was a legal vacuum around the machines).
In the early 1950s, thanks to American influence through military bases, pinballs became all the rage, and it didn’t take long for us to make our versions, also known as “million-dollar machines.” The pioneer company was the Zaragoza Automáticos CMC. In the wake of its success came firms such as Kromson, Caspolino Attractions or Torres-Macarrón.
The industry exploded in terms of popularity when the Madrid Petaco adapted North American models after an agreement with the giant Gottlieb, producing more than forty models and giving its name to generic pinballs. It was followed by Inder, Playmatic or Segasa. Now many of them (specifically 237 tables) are available to us for free thanks to the ‘Visual Pinball’ emulator, which has been running since 2000 and allows fans to create and replicate their favorite tables (here you can download the necessary files).
From the Museo del Recreativo website they have compiled all these machines to get closer to classics such as ‘Bumper’, ‘Concorde’ or ‘Faces’. You just have to register for free on the web and download the tables. As always in pinball emulators, the experience is light years away from tasting an original piece of furniture, but if you are a fan of the medium, they are a first-class file.
