Igualada: leather production returns
Few countries in the world have faced as much tragedy and disruption from covid-19 as Spain. Following confirmation of cases in all 50 provinces on March 13, the government imposed a state of alarm and national lockdown on March 14.
The country’s foremost centre for leather manufacturing, Igualada, had already closed down by then, following a localised outbreak at the town’s hospital. Leather production had gone on as normal on March 12, but an announcement came that same night that people would not be permitted to enter or leave Igualada and large gatherings, including in factories, were halted.
Communities across Spain began to emerge from the lockdown on May 11, but it took until May 19 for one of Igualada’s biggest leather manufacturers, Curtidos Badia, to confirm that it had been allowed to start producing again.
In a statement, the company said the authorities had given permission for it to start working again and gradually to build up its activity. It said that 70% of the workforce had returned and that all areas of the tannery were operational.
It said it was following strict health and safety protocols and had supplied all its workers with personal protective equipment and hand sanitiser and was taking all employees’ temperature every day. It has planned production in a way that means there will be no contact among workers from different shifts.
“The future seems unclear,” Curtidos Badia said, “but our team is in an optimistic mood and we have hope that we will once more be able to produce leather in the volumes we used to achieve and that the market will become stable again as soon as possible.”
Igualada has 37 tanneries, more than one-third of Spain’s total. These companies employ a combined total of 800 people in the town and have a turnover of €170 million per year.
