The archives of the industrial history of Asturias

The single most defining aspect of Asturias from the beginning of the nineteenth century and even earlier is its industrial nature, as exemplified by the coal mines and the steelworks. These were the main propellers of intense and diverse activities, together with other auxiliary services and industries – railroads, shipyards, workshops, workers’ residential buildings – necessary for its development.

This is the reason why any discussion on the matter of archives in Asturias involves the industrial and accounting records from the archives of mining companies, goods manufacturers, banks, and retailers: they are the byproduct of the region’s industrial and business history. Nowadays, when much of what was left from that past is gone, they are the only means for remembering and reliving our local history, as well as the researchers’ main tool for creating a record of it.

Some of the main surviving archives are mentioned here, yet it is saddening to learn that many others were not able to survive the many adverse circumstances in our most recent past. It is necessary to distinguish the archives proper – records’ storage facilities – from the facilities – archival or otherwise – where the documents are preserved; for instance, the archives of Real Compañía Asturiana de Minas (Royal Mining Company of Asturias) remain right by the factory that produced them in Arnao (Castrillón), while the archives of ENSIDESA (Avilés) are preserved at the Historical Archives of Asturias (Oviedo). The records of all of the largest industries of Asturias have been preserved: ENSIDESA (Empresa Nacional Siderúrgica S.A., National Steel Company Ltd.), Real Compañía Asturiana de Minas (Royal Mining Company of Asturias), Asturiana de Zinc (Zinc Company of Asturias), Juliana Constructora Gijonesa (Juliana Construction Company of Gijón), Fábrica de Mieres (Mieres Factory), Sociedad Metalúrgica Duro-Felguera (Duro-Felguera Steel Company), Hulleras de Veguín y Olloniego (Veguín and Olloniego Mining Companies), Sociedad Hullera Española (Spanish Mining Company), Hulleras del Turón (Turón Mining Company), HUNOSA (Hulleras del Norte S.A., Northern Mining Company), Industrial Química del Nalón (Nalón Chemical Company), Fábrica de Armas de Trubia (Trubia Weapons Factory), Hidrocantábrico (Cantabrian Hydropower Company), Fábrica de Armas de Oviedo (Oviedo Weapons Factory), UNINSA (Unión de Siderúrgicas Asturianas S.A., Asturian Steel Conglomerate Ltd.), HULLASA (Hulleras e Industrias S.A., Mining and Coal Company Ltd.), Fábrica de Tabacos de Gijón (Gijón Tobacco Factory), Ferrocarril de Langreo (Langreo Railway Company), Ferrocarril Vasco-Asturiano (Basque-Asturian Railway Company), Banco Herrero (Herrero Bank), Casa Masaveu (Masaveu Company). Finally, it should be pointed out that some regional records are preserved outside Asturias, at the archives of the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI, National Industry Institute, 1941-1995, in Madrid) which included all the state-run companies.