“La Farga” was a nickname for Altos Hornos de Catalunya S.A. It was L’Hospitalet’s leading metallurgic company, established as a foundry in 1900. Its location in the industrial outskirts of the Centre district was remote at the time. It experienced a major upswing in activity over World War I.
There were labour conflicts during the 2nd Republic. The major trade unions at that time were Unión General de Trabajadores (General Workers’ Union - UGT) and Confederación Nacional de Trabajo (National Workers’ Confederation - CNT). When the Civil War broke out, authorities adapted the foundry to manufacture materiel.
In the 1960’s, they increased their special steel production capacity from 4,000 to 150,000 tons.
The economic crisis of 1973 also affected La Farga, a large industrial facility which by then was embedded in the city centre due to demographic pressure and urban growth. Activity of this type generated large amounts of smoke and heavy transport-vehicle traffic. The unbearable pollution was affecting residents’ health and ability to rest. Conflict with the neighbours was imminent.
In 1975, under pressure from residents, the municipal government made a half-hearted attempt to change the zoning from industrial to urban use. La Farga employees faced the prospect of losing their jobs due to the protests of their own neighbours. Local residents proposed that the activity be relocated to a new site. Years went by, but the situation did not improve.
The Sant Josep Residents’ Association urged strict compliance with the laws in force for this kind of industrial activity. The company would have had to make investments deemed “inconvenient” to its balance sheet at a time of economic crisis.
La Farga workers found themselves in a double-edged occupational and social conflict. The assemblies were marked by heated debate.
The fight against the air pollution caused by La Farga was led by the Sant Josep Residents’ Association (founded in the Sant Josep Parish, led by Parish Priest Leandre Gassó) and supported by all of the city’s democratic political groups and trade unions.
The conflict reached its high point with the demonstration-concentration called by the Sant Josep Residents’ Association against la Farga in July, 1980. The demonstration was not authorized by the Civil Government. The municipal government, acting mayor and several city councillors made a show of support by attending the demonstration. The demonstration-concentration was violently dispersed. A number of demonstrators, including a city councillor, were injured. The Civil Government told the media that members of the crowd had thrown rocks at police officers.
Actually, and paradoxically, law enforcement offers had assaulted the democratic authorities.
Another concentration was called to demonstrate in front of La Farga the very next day on July 12, 1980. Once again, locals demanded the closure of the industrial premises, and denounced the actions of police the previous day, the company’s strategy of pitting neighbours and workers against each other, as well as the Catalan Government’s Minster of Industry’s washing his hands of the entire conflict.
All activity stopped at the mill in 1982, and the company relocated 20 kilometres north-west to Castellbisbal, in Vallès Occidental, a county bordering Baix Llobregat. Some years later, the local council purchased the land where the facility was located. This residents’ struggle can be considered the first of an ecological nature.
The attached video (duration 5:08 minutes) corresponds to a news report about the history of the "La Farga" building, elaborated by Enric Gil from L’Hospitalet Television on 2013.
