"Smoke clouds rise into the sky above Madrid. They originate from the surface of a planet transformed into a coal-fired steam engine. Natural clouds and fossil clouds merge until they become indistinguishable, dissolving the boundary between them. This fusion of the natural and the artificial in the clouds of the Columbus monument, designed by Alberto Palacio for the Philippine exhibition (1887), foreshadows the effects of the Anthropocene on our perception of the landscape."

This book originated from the exhibition Aquí hay petróleo!curated by Jaime Vindel and Gemma Barricarte and organized by el Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC).

¡Aquí hay petróleo! It addresses the relationships between fossil fuels, contemporary forms of power, and the imaginaries of desire. It focuses on the cultural history of fossil fuel modernity in Spain, particularly during the Franco regime, tracing a genealogical line that connects the past and the present. Through numerous images from various state and private archives, it reveals how the dictatorship generated a series of cultural imaginaries intended to dispel and overcome the perception of backwardness in Spain's integration into the rhythms of industrial modernity.