The Imprint of the Spanish Tobacco Industry on the Urban Landscape: Permanences and Absences of an Industrial Memory

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe preservation of old industrial buildings implies their treatment as reused elements for the development of the dynamics of today's society, in a second life where their recovery for citizenship implies a social value added to their historical-cultural importance. But this narrative is not complete without considering those intangible aspects that, unfortunately, have been lost over time and shape a memory of absences. This article proposes a reflection on the specific imprint left by the presence of Spanish tobacco factories in the urban landscape. It examines their different dimensions as industrial heritage in relation to the territory, the city, their architectural formalisation and the dynamics of the cigarette-makers as key workers. In this way, the importance of the activity of these factories in the cities in which they were located established a series of tangible and intangible relationships, both in their immediate surroundings and in the whole city.