Bueu. Massó Cannery

About this heritage

The Aldán cannery was built in 1941, coinciding with the Civil War. Under the management of Gaspar Massó, there was a high increase in sales since the Galician preserves supplied the territories occupied by the national side.

The canning complex had the latest technology, a cold room, a canning factory, and a slipway for the repair of the fishing fleet, as well as a mechanical workshop and facilities for the production of fishmeal and fish oil. The adding of the cold room made it possible to store the fish in a way that it was possible to maintain production throughout the year. They adopted improvements for the workers, reaching a staff of between 1943 and 2000 workers.

The Massó industry patented its technology, which was used not only in Spain but also at a European level. Besides this complex, in Punta Balea, the Massó family processed whales and sperm whales from the 1950s until 1985, the year in which Spain signed the international agreement banning the exploitation of large cetaceans.

Currently, the Massó factory in Cangas, although it has public management, is private; however, it is abandoned and deteriorated. It is closed and cannot be visited, as there is no plan for managing visits, contrary to the Massó factory in Bueu, which is public and belongs to the network of museums of the Xunta de Galicia.

To learn more

Up to four generations of the Massó family are linked to the Morrazo area and the manufacture of preserves. Around 1816, Salvador Massó Palau arrived in Bueu with the determination of founding a salting company to exploit sardines. To accomplish his goal, he acquired an existing sealed salt warehouse known as the "Almacén del Rey" (King's Warehouse), on which they built, in 1883, the canning factory. As production needs were increasing, so did its facilities, undergoing continuous extensions, and came to occupy from Montero Ríos Avenue, along Alcalde Johan Carballeira Street, to Pazos Fontenla Street. In 1942, they built the Canning Factory nearby Cangas Town.

Back to the Massó family, around 1880, his sons Gaspar and Salvador Massó Ferrer entered the scene by creating a trading company for the salting of sardines under the name of Salvador Massó and sons. In memory of the family's beginnings in the canning industry, the family establishment was called "O Almacén do Rey" (The King's Warehouse). The management of the company was endemic among family members and Catalans.

Located in Montero Ríos Street in Bueu, the museum opens from Tuesday to Saturday; specifically, its visiting hours are from October to May from 10 am to 9 pm, from June to September from 10 am to 9.30 pm, and on Sundays and holidays from 10 am to 2 pm. From November 1 to November 30, the museum closes, except for arranged visits. Admission is free.

To know it better

Aldan Town belongs to Cangas do Morrazo County, located at the end of the Morrazo peninsula with one of the main river called Orxás River crossing much of the territory. Its fluvial course born in Castiñeiras, located in Beluso, and finally, it ends in the Aldán Estuary.

The coastal county of Cangas has dedicated to fishing and the marine world for many years, where stands out its canning factory in Ameixide (Aldán). A late 19th-century historical building, it served as a salting factory, where thanks to this technique, they could preserve food, such as fish, for longer. Currently, they want to rehabilitate this structure to create a Thalassotherapy center in a unique natural and maritime environment while preserving the exterior.

Cangas County in Pontevedra province in the Morrazo Region comprises five parishes: Aldán, Cangas, Coiro, Darbo, and Hío.