A Industria de Conservas de Peixe do Algarve (1865-1945)

The fish canning industry was for decades one of the most important in the country's economy.

A sector that was characterized by a high level of exports.

The Algarve was one of the most important hubs, with many dozens of production units for the production of our magnificent preserves (sardines and tuna, essentially) being built in its riverside locations.

This study is essentially our Master's thesis, emphasizing, however, some facets that we considered most prominent.

Its preparation was based on a vast bibliography and, essentially, on the consultation of primary sources, and is accompanied by a vast set of quantitative elements (tables, graphs), which allow the reader to deepen their knowledge of the evolution of this industrial sector in the Algarve.

Afterwards, the dear reader will delve into the following contents:

a) The main producing and exporting centers in the Algarve;

b) The period of the true take-off, start-up, of the industry, with the outbreak of the First World War;

c) After the times of plenty, the times of crisis – the twenties and thirties (20th century) – accompanied by a profound social crisis;

d) The liberal state was replaced by new political-ideological winds, the authoritarian, interventionist, corporate state, from which the canning sector would not escape;

e) Finally, one of the most relevant periods for this sector, the Second World War, and its impact on the province's canning centers.

The industrial and museological heritage of this prominent sector is scarce, as the whirlwind of time and men led to its gradual disappearance from the industrial and social landscape of the Algarve. Factories closed, abandoned, in ruins, absorbed by other more profitable economic activities.

The total destruction of these places forever amputates the memory of the places and personal experiences, impoverishing their history and falling into oblivion.

And you will find much more in the pages of this work.