Guild of Tanners
The Igualada Guild of Tanners, which can be traced back to written records from 1693, has managed to adapt to new market requirements and to remain a global model for the tanning industry.
Nowadays, the guild includes 31 companies in the sector, which directly employ a total of 800 workers, and employ another 400 workers for complementary activities and services. The companies are small and mid-sized family businesses which have evolved generation after generation and have gone from a craft system to a great level of specialization, placing the Igualada tanning industry at the top of the sector worldwide.
Igualada tanners have managed to adapt their businesses to the modernization of the processes and have significantly increased their production as well as the diversity of the products they manufacture, while prioritizing quality and showing a profound respect for the environment.
Some of the factors that explain why Igualada is currently considered the leather capital of the world include the investments made in Research and Development, in the application of clean technologies, and in wastewater treatment; the promotion of the Leather Technology School; and the great efforts made by Igualada tanners to specialize and redesign their industries in order to offer the widest possible range of high-end leather articles.
