La fábrica de curtidos en Santa María del Páramo, Leónel curtido tradicional de las pieles en Castilla y León

Abstract

Throughout history there have always been three essential factors when deciding where to locate a pro- ductive structure: the quality of the means of communi- cation and transport, the location of the raw materials needed and the potential market. Considering the first and third factor, the majority of the great production sites are located in urban areas, as they are better con- nected and provide a wider potential market. Nevertheless, if we take the extension of Castille and León and the condition of the means of communi- cation and transport of the 19th century into account, we can better understand that it was private initiative that enabled the creation of small family-run industries in every populated area. The production volume of the factories was low and the distribution net was regional- based. The Tannery in Santa María del Páramo is a small factory founded towards the end of the 19th century, which introduced machinery in a traditionally hand- made sector. This innovation brought about an increase in production and, therefore, more resources. However, in this case, the mechanization of the process has not affected the technique; the machines are just a tool for the craftsman, which has enabled him to maintain the quality of the product and the “industrial craftsmanship” of the process, and therefore turned this factory into a gem of industrial heritage in Castille and León. In Santa María del Páramo, the industrial activity of the tanneries was so important that at its peak moment there were five operating tanneries. Nowadays, just the one built in 1887 by Froilán González Prieto, the first owner, still stands. After him, his son Genaro, his grand- son Albino, his great grandson Fernando and currently, the last one, Genaro, have run the tannery. The ethnographer Concha Casado refers to the importance of the tannery in Santa María del Páramo after visiting the facilities, “this tannery is like a relic of a past time that wants to transform without dying.” Likewise, the researcher Joaquín Alonso has stated that “no one should allow this factory to disappear; not only because the building erected by Mr. Froilán for his tannery, where the original wooden floors, the tanning tanks and the thatched roof are preserved, is a monu- ment in terms of heritage, but also because of the mark and wisdom that every machine in the tannery conta- ins.” The tannery is one of the gems of industrial heritage in Castille and León, as it maintains the original essence and the utility for which it was first built. The value of the building, the machinery, the craft-industrial productive process and the oral memory make this asset stand as first-level Industrial Cultural Heritage. In order to document this asset we used state-of-the- art technology, like the revolutionary scanner FOCUS 3D by FARO, as well as an unmanned aerial vehicle, which enabled the data collection both from land and air. We also used several photo cameras (Nikon D700, Olympus E-500 and EP-L1) so that every surface and area of the tannery, even those inaccessible from land, would be graphically registered. After the data collection phase, we proceeded to process the data. We created a complete 3D model of the building in a point cloud, which enabled us to generate the desired planimetries. Thanks to those pla- nimetries we were able to describe not only the archi- tecture and its elements, but also to write more abstract documents where we graphically explain the process of turning skin into leather.