ECOSYSTEM
The Catalan leather ecosystem
Companies, knowledge centres, infrastructure and institutions connected in the service of the entire value chain
THE CLUSTER IN ACTION
An ecosystem defined by the connections between its players
Companies, knowledge centres, shared infrastructure and institutions form an ecosystem in which each player contributes a distinct role: competitiveness and specialisation, innovation and transfer, cooperation and sustainability, training and generational renewal, identity and tradition, and strategy and institutional support.
This network, spanning the entire leather value chain in Catalonia, is the distinctive value that Leather Cluster Barcelona brings to international markets: it assures brands of robust standards of quality, traceability and environmental commitment, and keeps the Catalan leather industry at the forefront of design and fashion in Europe and worldwide.
COMPETITIVENESS AND SPECIALISATION
Companies across the value chain
Leather Cluster Barcelona brings together 78 members spanning the entire leather value chain in Catalonia: from livestock farming and the meat industry to specialist chemical suppliers, tanneries, artisans and fashion houses.
It is the sector’s reference community, defined by its strong export orientation and its ties with international fashion and luxury brands.
This operational integration fosters technical flexibility and industrial responsiveness. Companies share resources and knowledge, forming a robust production model that upholds the standards of traceability, control and quality demanded by the international market.
CLUSTER HEADQUARTERS
Adoberia Bella
Adoberia Bella is the Cluster’s headquarters and home to the European Centre for Quality Leather, a strategic platform designed to connect high-end design with the industrial capabilities of the sector.
This space serves as the main meeting point for luxury brands seeking to work with outstanding suppliers under a model of complete transparency, proximity and technical rigour.
Showroom, samples, creative residencies and technical meetings in a space where tradition and innovation meet face to face.
RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE
A3 Leather Innovation Center and Campus UdL
The A3 Leather Innovation Center and the Igualada Campus of the Universitat de Lleida together form the cluster’s research and knowledge environment.
A3, the cluster’s technology partner, carries out R&D&I projects in which different links of the sector take part jointly, advancing applied science to meet the industry’s technical and sustainability challenges and to reduce the environmental footprint of tanning.
The university campus, offering engineering degrees and the Master’s in Leather Engineering, completes this environment: its students train in constant contact with the cluster’s companies, laboratories and infrastructure, ensuring the transfer of knowledge to industry.
TRAINING AND GENERATIONAL RENEWAL
La Gaspar Leather School
La Gaspar is the leading professional school for leather design, manufacturing and savoir-faire.
As a centre for technical training and creation, the school prepares future professionals and acts as an essential link between the traditional leather craft and the creative demands of brands.
Its work secures generational renewal and the transmission of artisan techniques to new generations of designers. Through specialised programmes, the school equips young talent with a practical grounding of excellence, ensuring the sector evolves without losing its manufacturing identity.
COOPERATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
Igualadina de Depuració i Recuperació
The IDR wastewater treatment plant provides shared treatment of the wastewater produced by its member tanneries.
It is a benchmark facility, the result of a collective investment of €12 million, funded and operated by the sector itself as a cornerstone of its environmental policy.
Thanks to this cooperation, the sector has halved both its water consumption and its use of chemicals. It is a transparent management model that optimises economic and environmental resources and strengthens the competitiveness of the entire industry.
IDENTITY AND TRADITION
Leather Museums
The Leather Museums preserve and share the history of tanning in Catalonia.
The site comprises the Museu de la Pell, which traces the industrial evolution of tanning machinery, and Cal Granotes, a former tannery that still preserves the pits used for traditional hand tanning.
This heritage ensemble serves as a bridge between the sector’s historical legacy and its contemporary presence, offering a narrative of cultural prestige and identity that inspires the entire Catalan leather industry.
STRATEGY AND SUPPORT
ACCIÓ and public administration
ACCIÓ, the Generalitat de Catalunya’s agency for business competitiveness, together with the public administration, forms the institutional environment that provides strategic support to the cluster.
Through the Catalan cluster programme, ACCIÓ supports Leather Cluster Barcelona in defining its strategy and fosters its alignment with Catalonia’s industrial and innovation policies.
Collaboration with the administration, combined with private-sector leadership, underpins the cluster’s public-private model: a balance that makes it possible to align interests and multiply the impact of collective projects.
