Title: Architecture and Drawing: The Massó Factory in Cangas do Morrazo

Author: María Visiers Salinas

Institution and Type of Academic Work: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, School of Architecture, TFG

Date: 2017

The subject of study, the Massó salting and canning industrial complex, was a facility inaugurated in 1942, equipped with the latest technology of the time. It comprised a variety of buildings and areas of different functions: a canning factory with cold storage, a packaging factory, a shipyard and port area for repairing the fishing fleet; a mechanical workshop and facilities for producing fish meal and oils, a thread factory, a fat storage area, a garage, a hotel, a water tank, as well as facilities for workers, such as worker housing, a daycare, a sports field, dining areas, and showers.

The integration and relationship between the various buildings stand out, as they collectively meet the needs of a canning production facility and the social amenities introduced by the Massó family. Consequently, along with the technological development in this industry, various buildings emerged progressively to meet the spatial and functional demands of the company’s different processes, further enhanced by the company's social commitment to improving workers’ quality of life.

One of the social advancements introduced by the Massó Hermanos company was related to women’s presence in industrial work. The Cangas canning factory employed over two thousand workers in 1943, 95% of whom were women.

A determining factor in the creation and construction of the Massó factory is closely tied to the family history of the company. This history began with the immigration of numerous Catalan entrepreneurs at the end of the 18th century, who found Galicia, especially the Rías Baixas, an ideal location to set up their factories.

The Massó family, of Catalan origin, arrived in Galicia in 1816 and settled in Bueu (Pontevedra). Over four generations, it became one of the most prestigious and sizeable family businesses in Galicia. The Massó Hermanos S.A. company was a pioneer in the development of fishing, canning, and Galician industry in general, gaining significant social, economic, and political influence.

Of course, the location chosen by the Massó family for establishing their factories was not random. As seen with the Cangas factory and many other examples, Catalan promoters sought sites where commercial, fishing, or fish-processing infrastructure already existed, primarily old salting facilities.

This was plentiful in Galicia, as salting had been a key sector in the export fish trade for centuries. Additionally, the abundance of fish, the continuous industrial progress in fish preservation processes, and machinery spurred the rapid growth of the Massó family business.

Finally, regarding the place and historical moment when the Massó Canning Factory appeared in Cangas, it is worth highlighting one of the values characterizing this industrial complex—its rationalist architecture and the Modern Movement, which reached Galicia in the 1930s, transforming the image of architecture, in this case, industrial. This entire context—historical, social, architectural evolution, location—makes the Massó Canning Factory a site of significant heritage value.