The
Buenos Aires Underground , locally known as
Subte (, from
subterráneo – 'underground' or 'subterranean') is a
mass transit metro system that serves the metropolitan area of
Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first section of this network (Plaza de Mayo-Plaza Miserere) opened in 1913, making it the 13th subway in the world, and first underground railway in
Latin America, the
Southern Hemisphere and the
Spanish speaking world, with the
Madrid Metro opening five years later, in 1919. The underground's routes are said to spread out like "branches of a tree" from the
Plaza de Mayo, something
Miguel Delibes described as "restrictive". Current expansion efforts attempt to address those restrictions by creating more north-south lines and moving termini away from the city centre.