Catalan tanning sector still going strong
22/01/2014
When Igualada tanner Fontanellas y Martí filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-January, Barcelona’s main newspaper, La Vanguardia, reported that 80% of the tanners in the traditional Catalan leather-producing areas around Igualada and Vic had closed their doors “in recent years”.
Asked about the situation by leatherbiz, Josep Ballbè said: “The statement made by La Vanguardia is absolutely untrue. In Igualada, the number of tanners has remained stable (there are around 25) and some of them have increased production and expanded their workforce in the last few years.”
He explained that two prominent Igualada tanners, Vivapel and Enric, had closed down, but said it was seven or eight years ago, before the current economic crisis in Spain. “The growth of other companies, including Fontanellas y Martí, has made up for this,” Mr Ballbè said.
He went on to explain that three of the “biggest and oldest” tanners in and around Vic, which is 80 kilometres to the north of Igualada, had closed down since 2008, naming them as Codina, Genis and Colomer. But he argued that a move into this area by Colomer offshoot La Doma had partly compensated for the closures. He called La Doma, a specialist in double-face lambskin, one of the biggest tanners in Spain. In total, there are seven tanneries in the area around Vic.
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