Secondary sector

Industrialization in Spain
• Industrialization started with delay in Spain. In England it has
already started in the 18th century but in Spain it did not begin
earlier than 1880.
• The reasons for the delay are:
• Dominium of traditional agricultural society;
• Lack of a strong bourgeoisie;
• Problems during 18th century (Carlist wars, American colonial losses);
• Few investments;
• Lack of own money to be invested;
• Insufficient communication infrastructure.

• Although the difficulties,
in the 19th century there
were two active industrial
regions in Spain:
• Basque Country
• Catalonia


• In the Basque Country industries were located around Nervioi
river and it was based on the iron extracted in the mines of
the region. The industrialization was possible thanks to the
restructuring of the activities, the improvement of
communications and the creation of banks.
• The other was concentrated around Barcelona and the Low
valley of Llobregat river, and followed the regional tradition of
textile industry.
• In other regions there were isolated attempts, as is the case
of Madrid, but it started later and with the backing of the
State.

• This area stood until 1940-50 under state protection
and it benefited from the international demand during
WW1, mainly that of the belligerent countries. There
were crisis, such as the 1929 crack and the Spanish
Civil War.
• After 1939 Spain started a period of autarky: political
isolationism and need to produce enough to supply
the country.

• The second period developed after 1950, during
franconist regime when the Stabilisation Plan was
designed; in this moment Spain entered in the world
economy and two decades of industrial development
were its consequence. Society was transformed from a
rural to a urban one.

• In 1980 (Franco died in 1975), a new period began,
reducing previous rates, with exhausted sectors, and
restructuring was required. In this moment there was
an attempt to expand industry to regions previously
forgotten.
• Required reforms were done to adequate to the new
technological cycle.
• Main measures:
• Regulation of workforce,
• Specialization
• Financial cleanness...

• Nowadays it is involved in third industrial revolution,
which base is innovation and reform.
• New technologies, known as information technologies
are based on microelectronics. It is a period of
information revolution, which has implied changed in
production, structure, localization and industrial
policy.

• New industrial sectors have been
introduced: Telematics, automatism,
adjustment tools...
• Structure tends to be decentralised.
• There have been changes in industrial
implantation and industrial policy with the
reduction of the interventionism and the
increasing concern about environmental
matters...

Industrial localization in Spain
• In Spain the number of factories in restructuring
process continues being important; the most
dynamic sectors have foreign capital and use
advanced technologies, even when some of them
are in a primary stage.
• The problems are the following:
• Reduce the production,
• Reduce the competitiveness,
• European policies aimed at reducing production
• And in this way devote less money to aids

• Sectors :
• Basic iron industry and metallic
transformation:
• iron industries, steel made in
furnaces (the furnaces of the
Mediterranean and Biscay
closed down and they were
privatised and united with two
European companies, reducing
costs).
• Metallic transformation
industries manufacture
machines of any kind.

• Production of electric appliances for houses is involved in a
process of restructuring. Some factories have been closed
down.
• Shipbuilding in Galisia, Cantabria and Basque Country was
transformed and slowly other specialities have been
introduced.
• Leather and shoemaking have two branches: materials
produced through chemical technologies and clothe. Factories
are small, distributed in wide areas and they use abundant
working force. The must compete with the production of other
foreign countries.

• Dynamic industrial sectors have varied
possibilities looking at the future: high
productivity and specialization,
appropriate structures, secure
demand, abundant foreign capital.
• Car industry has suffered a restructuring
process and multinationals assumed the
official aids given to the sector. It
exported but it requires technological
improvements.

• Chemistry sectors is one of the
basic in Spain but little research
is done. Petro-chemistry is
important in Puertollano and
transformation chemistry in the
Basque Autonomous
Community.
• Alimentary industries are spread
and multinationals are influential
on them.
• Construction has decreased
during the last years.

• In Spain highly technified sectors are
high technologies, micro-electronics,
telematic and they have started with
delay, due to several difficulties:
• Backwardness related to foreign countries;
• Medium and small factories are the most
important but they competitiveness is scarce;
• Work force and studies are not appropriate
for its demands.
• Their location is in metropolis or in urban
areas.

• Looking at results, they are able to
attract multinationals in order to
introduce innovations and develop
research but many of them do not have
links with other companies in the State.
• Differences have increased because
companies using new technologies tend
to locate in the most dynamic axes.

• Nowadays Spain’s industry presents certain structural
problems:
• The size of the factories is not appropriate, because the
majority are small or medium. Products are expensive and
they can compete, being far away from the European
Union factories.
• Research is scarce, investments are concentrated in
some sectors (electronics, computers) and in certain
places (Madrid, Catalonia).
• It depends on foreign technology and it is characterised
by its backwardness. They import a lot but they export
less.
• The main consequences are the scarce productivity and the
low quality, with high prices that find difficulty to compete.

• Traditional factors have lost their importance in the location
of industries:
• Natural resources are not a requisite as before; sea transport
is cheap and some synthetic materials have been
developed. Energy is easy to transport.
• Regions around markets are not determinant and nowadays
dependency towards markets is not so important.
• Transport and communications have improved so distances
are not a problem.
• Work force is important, because they need profesionals.
• The main factor is innovation.

• Trends to locate industries: they encourage the
creation of factories in peripheral areas but traditional
industrial regions continue being attractive.
• Industries begin developing in regions not used until
the present: too big concentrations of industries create
problems; in the periphery it is easier to reduce costs,
development of endogenous industries, use the
resources of any region.
• But central spaces continue being attractive because
they count with several services, advances
infrastructures and they need a big market. This trend
in similar in the US, Japan and other places.

• The location of Spanish industries in different spaces leads to a
regional disequilibrium in population distribution, richness,
infrastructures, equipment and political weight. The following areas can
be distinguished: developed, regions in crisis, expanding regions, areas
of limited industrialization.

• Developed industries, there are central spaces of metropolis,
as Madrid and Barcelona.
• Areas in expansion, normally they are around metropolis
(Low Llobregat, the left margin of Bilbo’s outlet, the South of
Madrid).
• Sometimes they come from the traditional industries and
they are grouped in industrial polygons.
• Other times there are innovative factories and they are
grouped in technological parks.
• The development axes are located along the main
communication nets, this is, Ebro valley and Mediterranean.
Here there are nets of motorways and a tradition of artisan
work. Due to this industries are not concentrated but they
can be easily linked.

• Areas in recession : Asturias, Cantabria and some other
isolated areas. Until recently the Basque Autonomous
Community was included in this group but changes have
alter the situation.
• Industries are not diversified and they can not create
alternative jobs. In general there are big factories with
medium and small under their dependence so all of
them are suffering the same crisis.
• Little specialization of work market.
• Environment has been negatively affected.
• The entrance in the EU complicate the situation and
some jobs were lost.

• Areas of inducted industrialization: Aragon,
Castile and Leon and Andalusia were
industrialised later. There are huge differences in
comparison with other areas. In Aragon Zaragoza,
in Castile-Leon Valladolid and Burgos and in
Andalusia Seville, Cadiz and Huelva.
• Areas of scarce industrialization, Castile-Mancha,
Extremadura, Balears and Canaries.

• In relation to the environmental problems linked
to industry:
• Natural resources are overexploited and some of them
are exhausted;
• Some industries pollute the environment;
• The aesthetic value of the landscape has been
deteriorated.

• Nowadays industrial policy consists
of reducing the influence of the State.
• It has opened to the exterior because
at entering in the EU it is involved in
globalization. Foreign capital has
entered, from Europe. This have
affected the most dynamic sectors and
due to this decisions are taken out of
the country.
• The most competitive factories have
been privatised and their traditional
debts have disappeared.

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