After traveling through the desolate steppes of Soria and driving past the green and brown mountain ranges of Moncayo and Toranzo, crashing into huge industrial warehouses This is the least expected, as if we were in an Alcorcón polygon. Wide streets separate all kinds of different industries (food, automotive, textile, logistics and even blast furnaces…). From time to time, a truck comes out or comes from the main entrance of this polygon. 1 million square meters and 50% full. It is undoubtedly one of the largest employment creation centers in nearly all of Castilla y León. 45 active companiesSome, such as the Remsa brake factory, have more than 500 employees.
Welcome to Ólvega, miracle Economy in the middle of what is considered Lapland Spain due to its low population density.
Of the 3,668 residents of the municipality, 2.891, Social Security. There is now unemployment, less than 8%. “Whoever doesn’t work, doesn’t want to work,” explains engineer and businessman José Jiménez and businessman Juan Pablo Alonso, who drinks coffee at the Los Infantes Hotel. an elegant establishment that could be in a provincial capital. From the entrance of the cafe you can perfectly perceive the seed of the now municipal Revilla Sausage factory, built by Emiliano Revilla in 1958 and where 850 people came to work at the time. The slogan of the successful brand was “Chorizos, Revilla, great taste”. It is known throughout Spain.
The municipality grew thanks to Emiliano, who built around 150 houses (rented between 200 and 400 pesetas) for factory workers from different parts of Spain. your lion. from Extremadura. from La Rioja. An oddity that continues to recur today, as people from three communities outside of Castilla y Leon come to Ólvega to work every day: Aragón (Tarazona, Borja…), Navarra (Tudela, Castejón…) and La Rioja (Alfaro, Cervera…). ). “People come from Zaragoza, 120 kilometers away, and most of them even from the capital city of Soria,” explains José and Juan Pablo.
70 houses
“We are an industrial engine in the province, there is a lot of work and we actually have a housing problem. Ólvega mayor Elia Jiménez boasts that there are workers from abroad who have to go to Soria to be able to buy a house. The City Council, through the Somacyl (Public Community for Infrastructure and Environment), recently awarded 1,400 square meters of land to the Junta de Çatilla y León to build at least 70 houses. What they think in Consistory it would be a “good push”, but not enough to meet the existing and will continue to exist demand. “We are in talks with more companies to come.”
Behind him are José and Juan Pablo, who have been Emiliano Revilla’s apprentices and collaborators for years, and which we would have reached if it weren’t for his “big work in attracting companies to Ólvega”. “He’s the architect, he’s the one who makes everything possible,” says the two consultants, showing a digital portfolio of benefits for the municipality and Emiliano. “the best possible ambassador”.
To understand his career, you have to go back to 1986. When Revilla sold his company to Unilever for 9,000 million pesetas—it was later acquired by Navidul and later by Campofrío. Two years after the sale, she was abducted by ETA for 249 days, making it one of the terrorist organization’s longest recorded abductions. Ólvega turned to demonstrations to demand his freedom. José and Juan Pablo said, “As a result, when he was released, he felt very grateful and said he wanted to give back to people all the support he had received and would focus on attracting investments that would create wealth.” .
Thus, in the late 1980s, he succeeded in establishing Cableados Ólvega, owned by the multinational auto parts company Delphi, and Confecciones Ólvega, which later passed to Levi Strauss, to settle in the town. Both companies left the municipality decades later due to the move, but they created up to 1,200 jobs, These are added to others created at Transportes Molinero, which has grown with Sausages Revilla to provide them with logistical support. Likewise, Emiliano, who was mayor for many years, promoted a commercial company (Prouniol) for commercial promotion – collected over a billion pesetas, 300 of which were his own -, Olvegan families can invest their own money in projects for the municipality. In the hotel itself, for example, in the warehouses of the industrial zone or in the town hall itself.
“It created wealth, but it also helped create it. Some towns advanced, while others did not.He commends José, who assures himself that being able to help Emiliano for years is “better than doing any Masters at a Business School”. “One of his most repeated phrases of all time was that he hated laziness. […] With him all doors are opened to us, we are sitting with ministers and heads of communities. One of his core values is being a man of his word. He carries out exactly what he says.”
From a town with a livestock and agricultural economy, the municipality became an industrial engine thanks to de Revilla. Part of its success was due to its location. “Ólvega is logistically located in a key area between Valladolid, Zaragoza and Burgos.” 80% of the area north of the Ebro is a stone’s throw from this city of Soria. “It is the main link between the different communities and on the road to France,” the mayor says.
“For my father, the town was his life. When he sold the company, he felt indebted and devoted himself to attracting companies, growing the town, to show that he would not put Ólvega aside. It describes his daughter, Margarita Revilla, a businesswoman who recently founded her own gourmet juice factory (Presumia) in the municipality. “He wanted to make the town a small city.”
Grants and bonuses
Despite the age of 94, Emiliano has not long since retired from the front lines of the war, but José and Juan Pablo are trying to keep their jobs. “So that I can have a new project in Ólvega in the future, Many stones were kicked many times. Many trips, many meetings. Of course, every grain of sand we add for the growth of the town is a source of pride.” Another piece of the success that many companies brought to the municipality were the facilities provided by the Municipal Council and the Junta de Castilla y León from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
This is confirmed by what the signs on the facades of some companies on the site say, such as TGT Quesos naturales. Approximately 28 million of the installation cost, six were subsidized by the autonomous community. “The owner wanted to set up the company in Tudela, but we convinced him to set it up here”Jose points out.
“We are proposing from the City Council,” adds the mayor, “a bonus for the construction and works tax, depending on the number of workers and the investment. The land on the industrial estate is also competitively priced for the investment.” According to the mayor, the municipality has a lot to offer: top level education and wellness centers – there is a health center and fitness center, as well as a modern indoor swimming pool -, plus good fiber optic connectivity. Another source of pride for the town is its social center with its cafeteria and therapy day center.
Currently, the polygon has companies of all kinds. On the one hand there is Campofrío, which employs about 175 people in the brand’s modern factory where pizzas are made. In addition, a refrigerated and frozen potato tortilla factory, Tortillas a tu like, was recently established, employing around 40 people. “90% reside in Ólvega” appreciates Tania Martínez, who is the annual managing director of this companyIncrease production for both small markets and large surfaces.
Other notable companies include Remsa, which makes brake pads for cars and occupies the factory left by Delphi. It employs 500 people. “We have more than 2,500 brake references,” says José Manuel Revilla, one of the managers of this factory that sells to the workshops, which was set up a few weeks after Delphi left. The fruit of Emiliano’s agile and effective efforts. “We are very happy to be here.”
Other companies that chose this municipality of Soria to settle in were Ormazabal (electrical transformers), Rodezna (helper to the wind industry), Cyndea Pharma (pharmaceutical companies with 250 employees), Método (furniture factory), Logar (glue manufacturer) or Distiller. recycles solvents. The exotic note is given by Replay Golf, which recycles, renovates and manufactures golf balls. It is a factory owned by a Miami investor with an interest in the Soriano industrial area.
“I founded my company here because it was more financially viable. and they gave me more convenience”, confirms Margarita Revilla, about the preservative-free gourmet juice factory, which currently produces between 1,200 and 3,000 liters per day, depending on demand. Like the rest of Emiliano’s family, they continue to regularly visit the town where this business visionary is located, dedicating a monument in his honor in the town square. occupies a privileged place on the business map.