![]() Spain followed England and France to ban calico imports, albeit somewhat later. ![]() The arrival of calicoes in Europe was nothing short of a revolution in garments due to increased comfort, hygiene, lower cost and irresistible colours relative to existing silk and woolen garments. The first chintz or calicoes ( Catalan: indianes) arrived in Barcelona about 1650 possibly as European re-export from Marseilles, then Europe's principle route to India. The colonies were also a powerful magnet attracting labour and spurring territorial population redistribution across the country, with implications for the politics of today. Many of the turbines installed in the (now closed) colonies, continue to supply electricity to the national grid. The industrial colonies modernised and industrialised rural Catalonia and their infrastructure houses many modern museums. In addition there are outstanding buildings that date from the mid 19th including Palau Güell, the factories Vapor Vell, Can Batlló (one building of which today houses the L'Escola Industrial), and the Aymerich factory in Terrassa which now houses the National Museum of Science and Industry. The Church of Colònia Güell is inscribed on the list of UNESCO world heritage. They include Casa Batllo, Casa Calvet, Casa Terradas, Casa Burés and Fàbrica Casaramona. The cotton magnates encouraged and funded the best modernisme architectural achievements, whether they were factories, private residences or apartment buildings Often the buildings served as both the company headquarters and symbols of the owner's power, modernity and progressive spirit. The industry left a legacy of extraordinary architecture. The opening of the Spanish economy in the 1960s, social change that caused the industrial colony system to collapse and the oil shock of the 1970s saw the effective end of the industry. 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. From the Great Depression, the industry declined. The industry came to rely almost entirely on the internal market and the remaining American colonies. įrom the middle of the 19th century the industry was increasingly protected as the cost of raw cotton, energy & machinery in Spain made it difficult to compete globally. Government policy saw the proliferation of more than 75 industrial colonies ( Catalan: colònies industrials) on the rivers of rural Catalonia seeking hydraulic power, cheaper labour and land. ![]() Steam power was introduced but the cost of imported coal and steam engines, led to the extensive use of hydraulic power from the late 1860s. ![]() Industrialisation of the industry 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). Spinning was a late addition to the industry and took off after English spinning technology was introduced at the turn of the 19th century. The industry had its origins in the early 18th century, when printed cloth chintz ( Catalan: indianes) was produced, stimulated by a government initiative to substitute imports and the opening up of the American colonies to Catalan merchants. In common with many European countries and the United States, the Catalan cotton industry was the first to apply the factory system and modern technology at scale. It is the one Mediterranean exception to the tendency of early industrialisation to be concentrated in northern Europe. 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. Francis-type hydraulic turbine commissioned in 1899 at the Colònia Sedó textile factory ![]()
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