General Motors Peninsular (Mercat de la Sagrada Família)

Vehicles for the Republic

Madrid and Málaga were the cities chosen by the American multinational General Motors when establishing the first factories, in 1927 when they founded the Spanish General Motors Peninsular. However, six years after the birth of the subsidiary, they settled in Carrer de Mallorca.

 During the Republic, the company triumphed in the Spanish market with the Opel Blitz cars and the Chevrolet trucks, but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War entailed a 180 degrees twist in the company's expectations. The workers of the factory decided to collectivize it and put the automobiles at the service of the Republic, reinforcing them as armoured vehicles to fight in the front of Aragon with the leftist forces, especially for the CNT-FAI.

 But with the victory of the national troops, Franco's regime was hostile to the American presence in Barcelona and prohibited the reopening of the garages. General Motors would not return to produce in Spain until 1982, already in democracy. This time, however, with its industrial headquarters located in Aragon. Today, the space occupied by the factory is a market, a library and a community centre.