Cangas. Old Whaling Factory: Massó Factory

About this heritage

It was in the year 1816 when Salvador Massó Palau arrived on our coasts from Gerona - like many other Catalan promoters - to try his luck with his salting industry. He exchanged the Mediterranean for the Atlantic of our estuaries to establish two factories in the Pontevedra towns of Bueu and Cangas de Morrazo. Massó represents a significant example of the importance that fishing, salting, and canning had in the industrial development of Galicia, forming a southern axis on the Morrazo peninsula. Today, his Canning Factory and the Massó Whaling Factory are preserved as Assets of Cultural Interest, both industrial-type buildings dating from between 1816 and 1990.

On the other hand, the whaling tradition in Galicia, which peaked in the 17th century, was resumed after World War II. Thus, in 1955, the company Massó Hermanos, together with the firms IBSA and Hijos de J. Barreras, founded Factoría de Balea C.B., with its plant in Punta Balea - Cangas de Morrazo - very close to the Massó factory. This cove was the chosen place to load cetaceans from catches made offshore. Through rails carved into the very rock of the Cova Balea cove, they pulled cables to which the marine mammals were attached; to be later dismembered on the same beach and transported to the processing plant. Hence the name of the Cangas beach. In the 1970s, both Factoría de Balea C.B. and Massó Hermanos merged with IBSA: the A Coruña-based Industria Ballenera S.A., with the Massó family holding the majority of the share capital in the resulting company.

Cetacean fishing was characterized by being carried out between April and October, with the common rorqual and sperm whale being the most sought-after species. In 1980, one of the company's ships, docked in the port of Marín, suffered a bombing attack causing it to sink. This event, along with the International Whaling Commission moratorium in 1986 on whale fishing, led to the closure of the company and the factories of Morás (1979) and Cangas (1985).

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In 1816 Salvador Massó founded a salting warehouse in the town of Bueu. In July 1883, together with his sons Gaspar and Salvador, he decided to change the salting techniques to Nantes-type preserves, which were brought to Galicia by Breton industrialists. These French canners, due to the scarcity of sardine catches in their waters, ventured along the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and Galicia to continue their business. They were the ones who knew how to preserve food in tinplate containers. In this way, a problem for the French canners provided Galicia with a leading type of industry for the future of these coastal towns. The French reached agreements with Galician-Catalan industrialists who were dedicated to salting to found companies; with the aim of manufacturing fish preserves (mainly sardines) and later sending them to France. Blank cans without origin denomination were sent so they could pass as French. In France, the sent cans were labeled with the French brand identification without mentioning the Spanish origin of the product. Sardine preserves in oil, made in Galicia, were so well accepted by the markets that the manufacturers of our canneries realized they had to abandon French dependence and open new markets with their own brand. Thus, the firm Salvador Massó e Hijos began its canning trajectory alongside the French industrialists and Félix R. Domingo in 1883 by creating the company La Perfección, with a share capital of 20,000 pesetas. Except for the sardines, all the raw materials needed for manufacturing, as well as the technical staff, came from France. Massó provided the sardines and the manufacturing location. The cans were sent to the firm Dargenton and Domingo, which distributed them in France and other European countries. The Massó firm was clear from the beginning that innovation had to be a characteristic of its brand, thus knowing that diversification into new products and brands was fundamental if it wanted to grow as a company. Soon, it tried to manufacture preserves of other species such as mussels and cockles. Massó also believed that the quality of the product should be seen inside and outside the preserve, hence the utmost care in the external presentation of the product, all in color, accompanied by correct information on the packaging so the customer knows what they are buying. In 1898 the founder had passed away and the brothers Gaspar and Salvador Massó believed they could now fly solo and decided to dissolve the partnership with their French partners. The new company would be dedicated to the manufacture of fish preserves and salted products, buying and selling flours, nets, and any necessary fishing equipment. The period covering World War I was one of great economic prosperity for many Spanish companies. Being a neutral country, Spain favored Massó, allowing a great accumulation of capital. These funds were invested in other companies in Vigo and the surrounding area; also in the construction of steam fishing vessels. Massó's ships were the first to incorporate steam boilers and internal combustion engines. During the Civil War, the Massó company improved its financial results as it supplied a good part of its production to the army of the Nationalist side, as other Galician food companies did. In the 1930s, Massó employed around 600 women and 100 men. Women entered the factory as teenagers as assistants to the veterans who did the work. The assistants gave the lids of the containers to the older women

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and watched how it was done. Some time later, the young women performed the same work under their supervision. This was the way to learn the trade. In these years, the Bueu factory had become too small for the firm's production and an expansion or the construction of a new plant was required. The latter was chosen, and in 1937 construction began on the factory in Cangas do Morrazo. The Cangas factory was to be built on a 20-hectare plot, under the project of engineer Tomás Bolívar Sequeiros