Spain’s Industrial Landscape: Sectors, Locations, and Factors
The shipbuilding industry was directly affected by the oil crisis. In 1990, the shipbuilding sector dropped considerably and concluded a tough industrial reconstruction.
The textile, leather, and footwear sectors are also very important in Spanish industry. The Catalan textile industry was one of the pillars of industrialization.
The clothing industry is a branch of the textile industry that has derived from it, as the population demands clothing instead of tissues.
Dynamic Industrial Sectors
Other more dynamic industries include automotive, chemical, and food. These sectors’ dynamism comes from their status as suppliers of goods and products that are absolutely essential in the functioning of industrial society itself. They are usually high-technology activities.
The automobile sector was developed in Spain in the late 1960s and was, in turn, one of the drivers of economic growth. It grew under state protection and under investment by multinational brands (Fiat, Renault, Dodge, etc.).
Spain has important manufacturing centers (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Palencia, Vigo, Linares), and this is one of the export sectors of our economy.
The Chemical Industry
The chemical industry is based on the petrochemical industry and processing.
A) The petrochemical industry is a basic chemistry that takes place in large industrial complexes that are generally associated with oil refineries (Huelva, Algeciras, Cartagena, etc.) and is dependent on large capital, usually foreign.
B) The chemical transformation industry produces various products (fertilizers, paints, pharmaceuticals) that are produced in much smaller manufacturing facilities. These have a high degree of spatial dispersion, although their preferred location is in the industrial regions of Spain: the Basque Country, the Catalan coast, and the metropolitan area of Madrid.
The Food Industry
The food industry has burst into modern societies. It is a process of transformation of agricultural products that is imposed by the dissociation between producing and consuming areas.
It is generally dominated by small and medium-sized factories, many of which are located in irrigated areas, although there are also large multinational corporations with major branches such as dairy products, oil, sugar, etc.
Cutting-Edge Industries
At the forefront of the industry and with clear prospects for the future are high-tech sectors. Their importance lies in the unusual discovery that technology has reached in the contemporary world.
It occupies modern technology parks, requires highly skilled labor, and exerts an important role in dissemination and innovation in other industries from the actions of R&D&I (Research & Development & Innovation).
Key Industrial Regions
- Primary: Madrid, Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencian Community
- Secondary:
- Galicia: Pontevedra
- Asturias: Oviedo, Gijón
- Castilla y León: Valladolid
- Aragón: Zaragoza
- Andalucía: Sevilla
Factors in Industrial Location and Organization
1. Traditional Factors
- Social: Business, labor, abundance of capital and investment, state industrial policies promoting industrialization, etc.
- Spatial: Existence of raw materials and energy sources, proximity to consumer markets, efficient transport systems and communications, etc.
2. Current Factors and Characteristics
- Decreased importance of natural resources
- Improved transport and communication, reducing time over long distances
- Extended sales area
- Access to innovation and information
- Dissemination of industrial activity to peripheral areas
- Incorporation of new information and communication technologies
- Globalization of industry worldwide due to the control of multinationals and the internationalization of production processes
- Halt in the process of regional concentration in Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Madrid
- Change in the industrial potential of Autonomous Communities (growth of industry in the Valencian Community or La Rioja)
- Redistribution of industrial activities in urban and metropolitan areas
- Variation in the relationship between the size of municipalities and industry
Industrial Areas and Centers: Territorial Imbalances
1. Developed Industrial Areas
- Catalonia (the “factory” of Spain: textiles, wool, and cotton)
- Madrid (the industrial center of the peninsula)
2. Expanding Industrial Areas and Axes
- The metropolitan area around large cities, industrial estates, and technology parks
- Peri-urban strips: warehouses and workshops
- Broad lines of industrial development:
- The axis of the Ebro River valley, from the Basque Country to Aragon, through La Rioja and Navarre
- The Mediterranean axis or arc: from Catalonia to Murcia, through the Valencian Community
3. Communities with Industrial Areas in Crisis and Decline
- Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country. Mineral wealth and the steel industry.
4. Communities with Moderate Industrial Development
- Castilla León, Galicia, Valladolid, and Vigo
5. Communities with Low Industrial Development
- Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, and Andalusia