The sun had barely crested the rooftops of Madrid, yet the capital was already abuzz with anticipation. The grand plaza outside the Royal Municipal Hall teemed with workers in blue coveralls, schoolchildren waving miniature flags, and foreign dignitaries dressed in subdued silks and polished boots. At the center of the square, a gleaming brass podium had been erected, its polished surface reflecting the dawn light like fire.
Beneath their feet, the ground was no longer what it had once been.
"Two hundred kilometers of sewage tunnels," declared Chief Architect Lorenzo Vidal to the assembled officials. "Five separate intercepting lines. Two treatment reservoirs north and east. And for the first time in this city's history—no human waste in the drinking water."
