The strike that achieved the 8-hour workday

The working conditions of those building the Camarasa dam and hydroelectric plant were extremely harsh. In an attempt to improve them, a union was formed. Initially recognized by the company, it achieved gains, such as fifteen days' severance pay. One day, at the construction site entrance, the company, concerned about the union's strength, asked the Civil Guard to search the workers. They refused and began a strike demanding an end to the searches and a pay raise, but soon included an eight-hour workday as their main demand. The strike lasted almost a month and a half, thanks to the support of the CNT. With the money collected from members and sympathizers, the Camarasa strikers cooked a meal each day that allowed them to survive. The struggle spread and reached Barcelona. He went on to work for La Canadiense (the name given to Barcelona Traction Light and Power, which included Riegos y Fuerza del Ebro, the construction company for the Camarasa water intake). In January 1919, a strike had been called in Barcelona, which was aborted by heavy repression and led to the imprisonment of Salvador Seguí, among other instigators. But in February, the protest, known as La Canadiense, resumed and led to the publication of a decree establishing an eight-hour workday for all workers in the country. Thanks, therefore, to Camarasa's inspiration, the eight-hour workday was achieved.

We've reached the headquarters after passing through three gates. Once upon a time, these security measures were unthinkable. There were almost no obstacles to access. It wasn't unusual for a company retiree to enter with his family to greet his former colleagues without permission.

On a dirt track that begins on the road from the village of Camarasa to the reservoir, there is already a barrier. Once past it, a short drive away, we stop to see a group of abandoned houses. They belong to the Island Camp, where the plant's executives lived. They had a swimming pool, a school, tennis courts... and tea prepared at five in the afternoon! (The director and other engineers were English). "My maternal great-grandmother learned to make tea biscuits here. She and her great-grandfather—who worked at the plant—lived there," explains Marc Miret, current manager of the Camarasa plant. Marc is a member of the fourth generation to have worked at the plant. And if we're going to be more specific, of the fifth: his great-grandmother's father-in-law was a retired Civil Guard officer—with a mustache, one of those scary ones—who served as a guard. lister.

"What will happen to all these houses?" asks Francesc Rosell, an engineer and energy consultant who is accompanying me. Xavi Segura, a meteorologist with the ARA (Argentine National Aeronautical Association), who is also accompanying me, imagines that they could accommodate climbers, but quickly backtracks: "No, climbers usually sleep in their own houses." van"Perhaps for hikers. Here is the magnificent Mu Gorge, among other attractions," I suggest.

The second gate we pass through is a fence located at the beginning of the bridge that crosses the Segre River. And finally, the third, the entrance to the power plant building.

The dam was built in a narrow passage—obviously, to minimize the use of concrete—on the site of a bridge (the Devil's Bridge) over the Noguera Pallaresa, just before it meets the Segre. Because it was a difficult-to-access location, a funicular and overhead cables were needed to transport the material from one side of the project to the other. And since there was no esplanade, they had to excavate the rock. "They designed a vertical, multi-level design. Each part of the production cycle is on a level," Rosell notes.

"The specialized personnel who built the Sant Antoni reservoir in Tremp later came to build the Camarasa reservoir," Miret explains when we're in the alternator room. I look at the staircase: there are two very pretty spiral staircases that are surely original. And another vertical one, more modern, that leads to the first floor.

Inside the plant there is an interesting exhibition entitledCamarasa, 1917-1923. A time of technological advances and workers' struggle, commissioned by historian Dolors Domingo. The exhibition offers interesting facts about the dam's construction, such as the leaks that occurred, which were plugged with a highly water-resistant material. And a wealth of information. We read that the dam was built in 1918 and 1919. "Today, with this weather, we wouldn't even have the studies and reports approved that are required to carry out infinitely less aggressive, but absolutely essential, projects, such as a solar park or a wind farm," says Francesc.

We're back on the bridge that crosses the Segre. It's curious: the tributary, the Noguera Pallaresa—where the dam and power plant are located—carries more water than the Segre—where there's a mini-power plant. The Segarra-Garrigues canal and the Urgell canal, upstream of the Segre, have already absorbed some of the water.

Finally, we drive a few kilometers to see the enormous reservoir. There, Marc emphasizes that this water is primarily (90%) used to irrigate crops. Francesc advocates for Catalan reservoirs to play a key role in energy storage. "We must make hydroelectric plants reversible wherever possible," he says. It's time for the experts to weigh in. "The Catalan reservoirs of the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, like this one in Camarasa, also suffered greatly from the drought, although they began to improve sooner than those in the inland basins, and now exceed 80%. We went from one extreme to the other in just a year or so. This is what causes the 'flex' change. Drought has been the latest warning. We must increasingly rely on reclaimed water or water from desalination plants."