The history of Asland would be incomplete if no mention were made of the contribution of the thousands of workers who have worked in the factory.
The Asland cement factory, located in the Clot del Moro, in the village of Castellar de n’Hug, was closed about thirty years ago. The remains visible today still bear witness to the spectacular scale of one of the most incredible factory complexes of the process of industrialisation in Catalonia, and are set in a unique natural environment. The factory site has now been developed in a new direction, being converted into the Castellar de n’Hug Cement Museum, with a Centre of Interpretation and offering an outdoor tour through the industrial remains of the factory. Now you can enjoy a dynamic centre which opens up the first industrial cement works in Catalonia to the public, integrated into the network of Science and Technical Museums of Catalonia (mNACTEC).
The museum now
The old Clot del Moro Asland factory was working from 1904 up to 1975. The last owners, Lafarge-Asland, sold it for a symbolic price of 498 000 pesetas, about 3 000 €, to the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1996. Today it forms part of the Museum of Science and Techniques of Catalonia, and the Cement museum of Castellar de n’Hug has been installed there. The first phase was inaugurated on 21 September 2002. In June 2005 the factory and its surroundings were declared cultural heritage and of national interest, and given the status of a historic monument.
A visit to the museum allows you to appreciate the great impression caused by this industrial complex brought into existence by a group of industrialists whom today we would consider as visionaries, taking into account the technical and transport difficulties they had to overcome in order to construct a factory on this scale, and which later would supply cement during a period of intense industrial growth when new infrastructures, residences and production facilities were becoming increasingly necessary.
The museum before
In 1901 Eusebi Güell - a very famous member of the Catalan bourgeoisie, with ties to almost all the sectors of the economy, banks, railway companies, steel, tobacco, flour manufacturers, bakeries, wine, sea transport, mines and textile - and other investors founded the cement manufacturer Companyia General d’Asfalts i Pòrland, SA Asland in Barcelona and started to construct a cement factory, an exceptional industrial building, at Clot del Moro, which it seems was designed by the architect Rafael Guastavino, and inaugurated in the year 1904.
