Industrial Location Factors and the Energy Landscape in Spain
**Factors Influencing Industrial Location**
The location of certain industries is explained by technical factors or complementary attraction, since a company that produces a product may need another related company nearby. When an industrial area grows, it develops the necessary infrastructures, such as easy communications, energy supplies, and drainage networks. Strategic services like financial, informational, administrative, advisory, planning, and research become very important.
Agglomerations of economic activities in an area attract a number of industries and ancillary services, such as construction, food, and transportation. Areas near the city become a diffuse urban space, sometimes forming a metropolitan structure. The benefits and services provided in an area are what hold industries in a place even after the initial reasons for their location have changed.
**The Industrial Map of Spain**
- Where Investment is Located: Barcelona, Madrid, and Valencia are among the largest destinations for industrial investment. This is explained by the advantages of industrial agglomeration processes given in these provinces, such as having nearby services and means of communication. Other areas where money is invested in industry are those in the Mediterranean axis and the Ebro Valley axis.
- The Technological Level at Which Investment is Applied: Madrid and Barcelona are in the lead with their adjacent industrial areas. Also outstanding for their high entrepreneurial vitality are the Ebro axis and Vizcaya. Some provinces with little industrial tradition are seeing the opening of new high-tech companies, as in the case of Cadiz and Pontevedra.
**Industrial Areas and the Global Network**
This global network is characterized by the segmentation of the industrial production process to achieve lower production costs. Factories are sometimes located thousands of miles away to access cheaper labor. Processes that require a lot of labor are performed there, while design and finishing of fabrics may still occur at the original headquarters.
In Spain, final assembly factories for industrial products are located close to major consumer areas. This is the case with large multinational companies, such as automotive companies. Spain’s consideration as a location or distribution point for the European market makes it a strategic location for world industrial production.
The internationalization of production processes and the creation of supranational markets, like the European Union, have reinforced the globalization of the economy and promoted the concentration of capital in a few very powerful companies. It is increasingly difficult to talk about a purely Spanish industry.
Although our society is industrialized, many decisions are made outside our borders. This explains why Spain, despite being an industrial power, does not have a dominant role in the world economy.
**Item 15**
**The Energy Challenge**
The industry has traditionally been a major consumer of energy. Now it must change its parameters and meet the environmental requirements of the 21st century, including efficiency, savings, and the use of renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
**The Technological Challenge**
Information technologies represent a revolution in the industry. Production systems are revolutionized by the creation and introduction of new materials applied to the development of microelectronics and telecommunications. These innovations are applied in industrial design, the production process itself, and even in the storage and distribution of products.
**The Challenge of New Forms of Work**
Today, it is not necessary to increase the number of workers to produce more. Instead, the focus is on investing more capital in advanced technology.
**The Energy Crisis and the Era of Energy Efficiency**
The oil price increase by producing countries in 1973 caused a serious economic crisis. This crisis highlighted the dependence of Western economies on oil from the East.
The fear of economic hardship and the need to free themselves from dependence on oil-producing countries caused a change in the approach to the energy economy of most developed countries. There was a need to find alternative energy sources to oil and extend energy-saving programs to all economic activities, especially industrial activities. The automobile industry has developed more efficient systems to reduce fuel consumption. The efficiency achieved in new lighting systems with fluorescent or compact bulbs is a hundred times greater than that of traditional systems. Compared to 1950, 20% less energy is now needed to build a house and 40% less to manufacture a vehicle.
**Renewable Energies**
Renewable energies are defined as those sources of energy that can supply us in an inexhaustible way. The main renewable energies are biomass, mini-hydraulic, solar, wind, and geothermal.
- Biomass: This is a set of organic matter of vegetable or animal origin.
- Mini-hydraulic Power: The use of water for hydroelectric power is a renewable resource. Thus, one might increase the production of electricity from small power plants that produce little environmental impact because they require small base plates.