The Kings Unit 4

8th August, 1835

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Great fire in Barcelona

Bonaplata's factory

The last friday's night the factory "El Vapor" was assaulted and inflamed by a group of luddites. There were numerous damages and the Bonaplata asked the government for an indemnification. A worker, Aleix Pardiñas, was arrested by the police and he confessed after having being tortured and he was shooted the saturday.

Luddites attacking the machines

The factory began to work after the dead of  Fernando VII and in a political difficult situation with the confrontation between carlists and supporters of Isabel II. Due to this struggle and to the politicals trends of some friars in Reus and other important cities, some convents were attacked. Then the revolt arrive to Barcelona and on the 25th of July, there were similar attacks in Sant Josep's convent and also in those of the Carmelites, the Dominicans, the Agustinos and the Trinitarios. On 5th of August, the general Balsa, who was trying to stop the disturbances, died. With the presence of this rarefied atmosphere and of the conflicts inside the factory about the machines that were seen as the enemy by the working class the workers decided that that night was the perfect one to carry out the plan that they had organize during weeks and weeks. They enter in the factory and began to burn some machines. Then they escape in the confusion and run away. The mayority of the workers managed to escape but Aleix Pardiñas didn't get it and some hours later he was imprisoned. During this weekend some others industrious towns like Manlleu, Ripoll, San Pedor, Moyá or Gironella were attacked by the luddites.

Leader of the English Luddites

They took as example the attacks in Alcoy in 1821. It was the first manifestation of Luddism that there was in Spain. It took place on 2 of March of 1821, during the Liberal Triennium of the reign of Ferdinand VII, when about 1200 peasants and laborers from the neighboring villages who carded and spun wool in their homes assaulted Alcoy and destroyed 17 machines. Two regiments from Játiva and Alicante had to intervene to restore tranquility.
In the all the cases they take as example the attacks made up in the south and east of Great Britain, in which the first Luddites destroy the machines  as a form of  increase pressure on employers, to weaken the lower-paid workers who competed with them, and to create solidarity among workers. They said: "These attacks on the machines did not necessarily imply hostility to the machines as such, the machine was just a convenient objective against which an attack could be carried out". The aim of the Luddites is gainning a better negotiating position with their employers. They were not afraid of technology per se, but they were "labor strategists". 
If you want to see more of the history of luddites click here.