The Catalan industry incorporated the spinning processes at a late stage. In 1784 it was still only carrying out some 25 per cent of its own spinning, relying on imported Maltese yarn for the rest of its needs. From this date, however, manual spinning spread rapidly and, a curiosity of the Catalan case, mechanical spinning was introduced very soon after. In 1802 a royal edict was passed banning the import of spun yarn. This enforced the completion of the introduction of the spinning processes. In this chapter the three principal stages of the development of this new sector of the industry will be described – a gradual expansion in manual spinning up to approximately 1790, the first stage of the introduction of mechanical spinning during the 1790s and the completion of the nationalization of spinning between the imposition of the 1802 ban on yarn imports and the outbreak of the War of Independence.

THE GRADUAL SPREAD OF MANUAL SPINNING UNTIL 1790

The reasons for the lateness in moving into spinning are relatively clear: the advantages to be obtained from doing so were not particularly great. The principal one would have been the possibility of exercising greater control over the quality of yarn and thus producing higher-quality calicoes and obtaining better results from the printing processes.