HISTORY OF THE METAL FACTORIES OF RIOPAR

The Royal Factories of San Juan de Alcaraz, pioneers in metallurgical experimentation and construction of hydraulic devices, were founded by the Viennese engineer Juan Jorge Graubner on 1773, under the protection of Carlos III. It is about a major historical millestone: the first establishment in Spain for the manufacturing of brass, within the European context of the first Industrial Revolution. It is an extraordinary case that has endured all types of setbacks until its definitive closing in 1996: almost 233 years of entrepreneurial heritage.

 

 

In Calar del Mundo, the only one known zinc mine in the Iberian Peninsula at the  time gave birth to the factory town of Fábricas de San Juan de Alcaraz, where the current town of Riópar was originated. Here a complete process of production was carried out, from the extraction of the mineral from the bowels of the mountain to the polishing of the pieces (whether arty or industrial) for the market.  

    

Juan Jorge Graubner established two main nexus: San Juan, taking advantage of waters from the Gollizo stream, and San Jorge, next to the Río Mundo. San Jorge was located below the only known zinc mine at that time in Spain. Outstanding engineers and architects of the time were involved in the factory development: Juan de Villanueva, Carlos Lemaur, Francisco Pérez, José Antonio Larrúmbide, Agustín de Larramendi, Luis de la Escosura... At the time of the nationalisation of the Factory in 1785, production gets oriented towards ship planking for the Spanish Navy, and also to the covering of numerous orders for weapon factories in Placencia and Oviedo. At the beginning of the XIX century, the Factory provided brassfor weapons, gunpowder and saltpetre manufacturers, and also to the RoyalHouse. Moreover, the Factories owned important establishments in Madrid, Seville and Valencia. In the Factory facilities, deputies from all over La Mancha take refuge to choose representatives in the Cortes of Cadiz.

In 1828 the Factories are privatized, and facilities are renewed to reactivate mines and workshops. In 1846, the Compañía Metalúrgica de San Juan de Alcaraz is first constituted. In the XIX century the push given by the new investments in foreign machinery, product care, design and invoices together with the beginning of advertising strategies will be transformed into public recognition: in 1850, the Factories won the gold medal for its brass products in the Public Exhibition of products of the Spanish industry, organized in Madrid as preparation to the perspective of the great Universal Exhibition of London in 1851. The Factory launched in stock-market, having Queen Maria Cristina among its shareholders. The Factory will obtain new medals in several Universal Exhibitions: London 1862, Philadelphia 1876, Paris 1878, Barcelona 1888, Paris 1889… In 1869, under the management of Juan Bravo Murillo, the Factory is the first one to manufacture Remington metal cartridges ordered at the request of General Prim.

In 1870 a new establishment is built in Santa Lucía (Cartagena), with British steam engines. In 1890 they already traded items for the electrical lighting system, apart from selling fluid in town, originated from turbines in its lighting factories. Their metal craftwork designs in bronze and brass, according to the French and German fashion, were very appreciated by the Church and the well-off classes; but the remote location of the factories, the mining crisis and the strong development of the zinc industry in the Cantabrian coast, made havoc on the company's competitiveness at the end of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 20th century the Asturias born entrepreneur Olegario Riera was reimbursed with the company as a credit payment, which ended up being the Industrial Metalúrgica de San Juan de Alcaraz, S.A. During the Civil War, the governmental forces devoted the mass production to war material manufacturing. When the war came to an end, there was a return to the manufacturing of bronze, silver and alpaca, and later, stainless steel and plumbing utensils. Riópar was known as “El Dorado” of the county: there were 400 workers at that time and the population grew up to 3000 people. Local services are run by the factory, reactivating the industrial colony with the characteristic strong paternalism of those days: the Town Hall premises, the village's chapel, the priest's house, the hospital, the doctor's house, the Guardia Civil's headquarters (Spanish type of local police), the inn, the economato (type of bargain company's store), the theatre (where funding are raised for the retirement plan), the local band's rehearsal space (where music lessons take place) are owned by the company. In 1954 the Factory is appointed Model Company by the Franco's regime due to its industrial colony nature and its energetic self-sufficiency, with its working hydroelectric power stations, under the management of Luis Escudero Arias.

In 1984, after several difficulties, the company went bankrupt and the workers took hold of it as a cooperative, happening to be an employee-owned company managing to survive until 1996. The Factory, now turned into Society devoted its last years to the recovery of the crafts from Riópar, introducing the melting of the wasted wax and retrieving old molds. In 1997, the town stops being called Fábricas de Riópar, to be named Riópar, meanwhile Riópar Viejo remained as the name for the original inhabitants.