Erasmus+ 1 | Page 19

Flax

Industrial Revolution

Galicia (Spain) is one of the places where flax has been cultivated for more than 500 years.

Flax is a plant which has to undergo a very complex manufacturing process. When the plants are collected in June, they have to be plucked off together with their roots so as not to damage their fibers. Then, the flax is retted and then allowed to dry. Finally, the stems are rolled into balls to be processed in mills. Pre-prepared flex stems are to be peeled, hackled, spinned and finally linen fabrics woven. For centuries, both linen and wool from sheep were the fundaments of a home-based economy in most of the country.

In the 19th century, Spain decided to focus on cotton industry in Catalonia and imposed taxes on linen industry. Galicia couldn't pay those high taxes so linen production stopped. Nowadays, some Galician associations are trying to recover flax growth and some popular techniques to produce linen.

The industrial revolution which started at the end of the eighteenth century was based on cotton which came from Asia. Catalonia was one of the few European regions to be involved in this process from the very beginning. The mechanization of spinning in Catalonia advanced thanks to the invention of the spinning machine.

The full development of Catalonian textile industry hadn´t been made until French War (1792-1802). The Catalonian industry had to face the poverty of its subsoil, to depend on foreign energy resources, especially coal from the UK and to deal with the poor demand of the Spanish domestic market (made up of farmers and ranchers).

HISTORY OF SPANISH TEXTILE INDUSTRY