PAST CONTINUOUS

 to express an action / activity in progress at a stated time in the past

I was living in Spain this time last year.

 to express a past action in progress interrupted by another past action ( the longer action is in
the Past Continuous, the shorter action is in the Past Simple )

I was playing football when I broke my ankle.

 to express two or more simultaneous past actions in progress at the same time

He was cooking while we were sleeping.

 to express a gradual development / to express actions that were done repeatedly over a period
of time

It was getting darker and darker.

 for background description / details to events ( in a story / description )

They were traveling to Swansea...

He was watching the National Lottery on TV.

 to express a definite future arrangement / plan seen from the past= a future activity-compared
to the past-that was considered certain to happen because arrangements had been made

He was busy packing for he was leaving that night.

They did not come because the train was leaving at 9 o’clock.

!!!NOTE +
-while
-when
-as
-the moment that…
-at this time yesterday…
-at 2 o’clock yesterday / last week…