Historical Context

During the years of Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship, the demand for construction materials grew, owing to the public works programs, and the number of companies manufacturing ceramic products increased in general.

In 1910, the first seven factories were built in the village. Four years later, in 1914, another five were added, but it was really from 1931 that all kinds of floor tiles, roof tiles and bricks begin to be manufactured in Oliva, and distributed outside the region. Thus began the decade during which the heavy ceramic industry was definitively established in Oliva. Twelve other companies were registered during the 1930s.

A few years after the end of the Spanish Civil War, there was a significant boom in demand across the country for all construction-related products, including floor and roof tiles, and other ceramic products. The 1940s saw the continued growth of the brick industry in Oliva. Between 1946 and 1957, another eight companies were registered, bringing the total number of factories in Els Rajolars to around thirty.

Driven by the need to respond to demand, Oliva’s ceramic industrialists initiated a process of modernisation to increase the productive capacity of their factories. This brought with it one of the most decisive factors in the transformation of the built environment of Els Rajolars: the arrival of the Hoffman furnace, enabling continuous production, and which progressively replaced the traditional Morunos furnaces previously used by the factories.

This industrial growth also led to a growth in Oliva’s population, with the arrival of numerous workers, mainly from the regions of Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha, along with their families. Oliva’s population increased considerably throughout these years, from about 8,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the century to almost 17,000 in the 1970s.