Key Factors Shaping Spanish Industrial Activity
Raw Materials
Industry is the process of transforming raw materials into products suitable for consumption or for use in new industrial processes. The starting point of industrial activity is the raw material to be processed by applying energy in terms of available technology and facilities constructed for such an effect. Raw materials, natural resources used in processing, are varied. These, together with the source of energy, have been key to industrial location. However, these factors have changed compared to the past, depending more on other factors such as economic, political, and ecological.
Raw materials are classified as:
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Of mineral origin: Found on the surface. They focus on deposits, and their extraction is carried out in quarries or mines. We found four major groups:
- Energy Minerals: Used as an energy source (e.g., coal, uranium).
- Metal ores: These are for metallurgical, chemical, and transformation industries (e.g., iron, copper, gold, silver, zinc). The deposits are found in the basement in alpine ridges.
- Non-metallic minerals: Used in the construction and chemical industry. Spain can export these due to varied production, although their price is lower than metallic minerals (e.g., quartz, clay, kaolin, barytes).
- Industrial rocks: Mined in quarries (sandstone, marble, granite, slate). Offers geographic dispersion coinciding with the lithological map. They are intended for construction, and extraction can pose a significant environmental impact.
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Of organic origin: Among them are:
- Raw materials of animal or vegetable origin: Wool, milk, flax, sunflower, etc. Some of them have been very important in contemporary industrialization.
- Forest-based raw materials: Supply the demand for large amounts of wood, which Spain lacks.
These have always been farm products consumed directly, but subsequently, the separation between areas of production and consumption consolidated with the development of urban society.
Energy Sources
Energy is the force that is transformed into mechanical work. Mineral materials that are converted to energy are energy sources that are classified as renewable (their use does not jeopardize their existence) and non-renewable (their use entails disappearance). According to their potential, we classify them into primary, which contain energy that cannot be used directly but is detached when transformed (coal, oil, gas, uranium), and secondary, which manifests itself as light, heat, electricity, and comes from the processing of the primary.
Coal
Coal was central to the Industrial Revolution. It is abundant in nature and found in sedimentary basins of the Primary Era. In Spain, it is located in the North and South of the Cantabrian Mountains (Asturias, León, Palencia), the southwest of the Plateau (Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo), and the Iberian System (Teruel). During the 19th century, extraction and consumption increased, helped by protectionism that argued against competition from other coals. In the 20th century, it became insufficient, and oil was used. It was reactivated in 1973 by the oil crisis.
Oil
Oil is the primary source of energy widely used in cars, heating, and electricity production. It becomes increasingly important in the Spanish energy system. Its intensive search has proved unsuccessful because the geological conditions in Spain are not conducive to its formation. There is some in Burgos and Tarragona, but very little.
Uranium
Uranium is the most abundant mineral energy in Spain. Found in the peneplain of the western plateau, Badajoz, Salamanca. Its energy is used to heat, but it needs prior enrichment, and Spain has no technology for this purpose. This must be done in the U.S. or France, so we are dependent. Since 1984, the government decided not to make more nuclear plants for security reasons and the issue of waste.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is a clean and cheap energy. Spain began its gas consumption in 1969. Our country produces little gas (Vizcaya, marshes, Huelva) and, therefore, has to import it from Algeria, Libya, and Eastern Europe through a pipeline network for distribution.
Hydropower
Hydropower is a renewable energy because its contribution depends on annual rainfall. It is obtained by the water stored in reservoirs. Water in each watershed depends on the weather, so the maximum energy potential is in the North and the lowest in the South and East.
Other Energy Sources
Among other energy sources, we can emphasize wind energy, which leverages the power of the wind. The turbines are located throughout much of the Spanish geography. It is used for electricity or mechanical energy. The sun is applied to the production of heat or electricity. Biomass energy is obtained by burning agricultural, forestry, or industrial waste. Geothermal heat energy is apparent underground; thermal water is used for heating. Tidal power uses the force of the tides. They are all clean energy sources, inexhaustible, although their production is reduced, and some are under investigation.