History of the cotton industry in Catalonia

The cotton industry was the first and leading industry of Catalan industrialisation which led, by the mid-19th century, to Catalonia becoming the main industrial region of Spain. It is the one Mediterranean exception to the tendency for early industrialisation to be concentrated in northern Europe.^[1][2] The Catalan cotton industry, in common with many European countries and the United States, was the first large-scale application of modern technology and the factory system.^[3]

The origins of this industry can be traced back to the early 18th century when it began producing printed cloth chintz, known as indianes locally. This was driven by government bans on imported chintz from India and the opening of trading opportunities with Spain's American colonies to Catalan merchants. Initially, spinning was not a significant part of this industry, but it gained momentum in the early 19th century with the introduction of English spinning technology. Industrialisation occurred in the 1830s after adoption of the factory system, and the removal of restrictions by Britain on the emigration of expert labour (1825) and of machinery (1842).^[4] Steam power was introduced, but the cost of imported coal and steam engines, led to a shift towards the use of water power from the late 1860s. Government policy saw the proliferation of more than 75 industrial colonies (Catalan: colònies industrials) on the rivers of rural Catalonia seeking water power, cheaper labour and land.^[5]

From the middle of the 19th century the industry was increasingly protected as the costs of raw cotton, energy & machinery in Spain made it difficult to compete globally. The industry came to rely almost entirely on the internal market and the remaining American colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico. From the Great Depression, the industry declined. There was increasing strife in Spain, a declining economy, civil war and then from 1939, the policy of autarky locked the industry out of the post WW2 global growth and investment. The opening of the Spanish economy in the 1960s, social changes that caused the industrial colony system to collapse and the oil shock of the 1970s saw the effective end of the industry.^[6]

The industry left a legacy of extraordinary architecture. The cotton magnates encouraged and funded the best modernisme architectural achievements, whether they were factories, private residences or apartment buildings.^[7] Often the buildings served as both the company headquarters and symbols of the owner's power, modernity and progressive spirit.^[8] They include Casa Batllo, Casa Calvet, Casa Terradas, Casa Burés, Palau Güell and the Church of Colònia Güell which is inscribed on the list of UNESCO world heritage. In addition there are outstanding factory buildings including Fàbrica Casaramona, Can Batlló (today called L'Escola Industrial), and the Aymerich factory in Terrassa which now houses the National Museum of Science and Industry.^[9]

The industrial colonies modernised and industrialised rural Catalonia and their infrastructure houses many modern museums. Many of the turbines installed in the (now closed) colonies, continue to supply electricity to the national grid.^[10] The colonies were also a powerful magnet attracting labour and spurring territorial population redistribution across the country, with implications for the politics of today.^[11][12]