Industry and Energy on the Spanish Northern Atlantic Coast

The Steel Industry in Asturias

One of the major events in the industrial history of Asturias took place in 1948 when the national aluminum company, Empresa Nacional de Aluminio, SA (ENDASA), was founded in Avilés. A few years later, the National Institute of Industry (INI) decided to create the national steel company, Empresa Nacional Siderúrgica, SA (ENSIDESA), to give a definitive boost to the steel industry in Spain. Because there was an existing iron and steel industry in Avilés, it was chosen that same year as the ideal location for the new company.

Franco’s Reservoirs

The industry was in need of constant, abundant and reliable energy. Altough the construction of reservoirs is widely associated with the public works projects from the early years of the Franco regime, the truth is that the regime took up pre-existing plans that had been outlined during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, and even during the period of the Second Republic. The severe drought that affected Spain in the 1940s also led to low electricity production, which hampered the potential growth of Spanish industry. This convinced the authorities that the earlier plans needed to be made more ambitious in both scale and number.

The Waterfalls of Asturias: Joaquín Vaquero Palacios

Joaquín Vaquero Palacios was commissioned to build a series of hydroelectric power plants in his native Asturias. Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico, the company responsible for carrying out the commission, was founded from the companies led by Vaquero’s father, a pioneer in the construction of waterfalls for generating energy in the region. The projects become an extraordinary example of the integration of art and architecture: the Salime waterfall, the Proaza power plant, and the decoration of the Miranda power plant are unique examples of the confluence of engineering, architecture and art.

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