Introduction
Asbestosis has been one of the characteristic illnesses of XX
century, mainly of the second half of century.
This
website tries to fill humbly an empty space in Spain about
asbestosis. The illness has been maintained in absolute silence,
hidden in a corner. Nobody wanted to disturb the responsible people
of illness spread. Nobody wanted to disturb the responsible
politicians who were subsidiary responsible men of imperfections of
private companies.
Cerdanyola is placed at 15 Km. from Barcelona, the capital of
Catalonia, in the Spanish Kingdom. It was a village of one thousand
people at the beginning of XX century and close to 60.000 people at
the beginning of XXI century. Cerdanyola was the first place in
Spain where the asbestos-cement products were manufactured since
1907. Cerdanyola had as industrial image the asbestos-cement plant
built by Roviralta brothers, named “Manufacturas Roviralta”, changed
to “Manufactures Eternit” in 1933. Finally, after the Civil War, in
1943 ownership changed to Juan March Ordinas, the finance sponsor of
dictator Franco, and “Uralita, S. A.” was the new name. As the
Cerdanyola plant started in 1907, it was the first town in Spain
where the asbestosis appeared.
For
obvious reasons (dictatorship times), the asbestosis complaints
started when the general Franco died and the democracy was
instituted in Spain. The first complaints and denunciations of
Uralita, S. A.’s workers started in 1977. “Comisiones Obreras”, a
trade union, was the first movement in favour of ill workers of
asbestosis. Workers reports and several articles in newspapers
contributed to give knowledge about asbestosis to citizens. It
happened in despite of company’s efforts to accept the asbestosis as
a professional illness and the administration to refuse any
connection between the job with asbestos fibres and the
asbestosis.
After
some years of silence, since 1997 the asbestosis has been known in
radio, television and press, due to the “Comisiones Obreras”
complaints and some law companies as “Col.lectiu Ronda” of
Barcelona. Finally, asbestosis is known for the citizens as a
professional and incurable illness.
This
website would be on live testimony about the asbestos presence in
Cerdanyola since 1911 up to now, with all repercussions on the
environmental and human health.
Cerdanyola was named as “university and
technological town” in the last eighties, but unfortunately it could
be named as “asbestosis town”, too.
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