Under the umbrella of La Naval, about 2,000 workers came to work during the busiest times, between the company itself and all the workshops that worked for the construction of ships. Every morning the accesses to the shipyard were filled, for the most part, with workers who came to their post with sandwich in hand and with the peace of mind that they would no longer have to worry about making ends meet. The same scene was repeated a few kilometers from Sestao, in Euskalduna Shipyards.
They were years of prosperity and employment for all of Bizkaia. However, with the passage of time, the sector went into crisis and there were various business restructurings and closures. La Naval resisted a few more years thanks to the privatization that took place in 2006. The State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI) put sOn the table that option or the closure of the shipyard. In this way, the company Construcciones Navales del Norte (CNN) was established, which managed the shipyard until its dying closure. In three years, he lost 107 million euros.
After consummating the irresversible bolt in 2018, The company had 177 workers of which 150 had guarantees to continue working in the construction of ships, thanks to a clause in the privatization process. In exchange, they would have to leave Sestao and move to other cities where the public company Navantia had shipyards and offices. Ferrol, Puerto Real, Cartagena or Madrid would be some of those cities. Others, whose personal situation did not allow the transfer or did not have guarantees to do so, sought work in other companies in the Left Bank and Mining Zone.
The current lives of three former workers
Txema Belón currently works in the Navantia shipyards in Ferrol: “There is not enough workload in the shipbuilding line”
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Toño de los Santos, in Cádiz
Toño de los Santos currently works in the Navantia shipyards in Cádiz: “La Naval was our home. I entered when I was 14 years old”
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Txema Belón, Toño de los Santos and Javier Sagarduy are three of the workers who passed through the La Naval cranes. Two years after leaving the Sestao facilities, they have rebuilt their lives in Ferrol, Cádiz and Trapagarán. Radio Bilbao has contacted them.
Now, the Belgian group VGP NV, of industrial and logistics real estate, will be the one who will take over the land to create a logistics area. The offer put 36 million euros on the table, which must now be authorized by the judge in charge of the settlement. VGP aims to preserve some of the “iconic features” of the old shipyard, such as the cranes.
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