Galicia sells off its industry: from Avícola Tratante to Aludec

Galicia is selling off its industrial fabric: from the priest of Dozón to private equity

The Campos family sold Avícola Tratante two months after the death of its founder, a priest whose heir was, by all accounts, his godson, according to the thread. It is not an isolated case: it is the pattern described by participants. In just over a year, Galicia's main automotive parts suppliers have passed into the hands of outside groups. Ochoa, Aludec, Martínez Otero, Grupo Bermúdez, Abra-Mar, Bives Tour, Marosa. The list is growing faster than the local press can report it.

The problem is not the sale itself. It is what it reveals, according to forum users: there is no generational succession. And when there is no succession, capital — foreign or from funds — comes in and takes the headquarters, the control and, in the medium term, the decision-making.

The pattern nobody disputes anymore: grandfather, son, grandson

There was a time when the family business trinc a predictable script. The grandfather built it and made it grow. The son kept it going, but started to run it down. The grandson closed it because it was ruined. Now that cycle has been compressed: it is sold off directly in the second generation, before the heir has time to prove he has no idea how the business works, one forum user argues.

The logic is cold. The heir thinks his uncle had no clue and that he does, that he has loads of ideas to multiply revenue tenfold. And since he ends up sinking the business anyway, the rational option is to sell, pocket the money and let someone else manage. Within half a century, according to the most pessimistic analysis circulating in the thread, everything will be in the hands of megacorporations and there will be no mid-sized productive fabric left. That, they say, can only end badly.

The deals that have changed Galicia's industrial map

The numbers allow the map to be traced. CIE Automotive, a Basque group and owner of Galfor in San Cibrao das Viñas, bought Aludec, a Pontevedra-based automotive company that was set to close 2025 with around 160 million in revenue. Add to that Greening's takeover bid for Eidf (Barro, Pontevedra, 138 million in 2024, fragmented shareholding) and the purchase of Mape (32 million in 2023, the Cachafeiro family, medical equipment) by another private equity fund.

Portobello bought not one but two strong companies: Martínez Otero (A Estrada) and Grupo Bermúdez (Carral). Iberostar took over Abra-Mar (21 million in 2023) and a Madrid-based group acquired Bives Tour (around 9 million). The two largest travel groups in Vigo, bought by outside capital within two years. And an American company snapped up Recambios Ochoa, with 20-25 million in revenue and a strong presence in southern Pontevedra.

Why is there no succession? Seventy years at the helm

The answer lies in the ages. A group on the Pontevedra coast with around 9 million in combined revenue is still effectively run by a man over 70. The tax adviser is also past 70. The scene repeats itself in dozens of offices and industrial facilities across the region, according to the experience shared in the thread: the founder won't let go, the children live off the income or have become civil servants, and when the patriarch disappears, selling up is the quickest way out.

There are exceptions that prove the rule. In Lalín, the number of young children and young families is striking, and money is visibly flowing: farming and livestock are booming. Beef cattle have had two or three very good years; sheep farming is a goldmine right now, according to one forum user. But that is the primary sector, not industry. The fabric that manufactures, transforms and exports is being handed over.

The labour market that doesn't fit the narrative

While companies are being sold off, the province of Pontevedra shows a very dynamic labour situation, according to claims in the thread. Nobody who wants to work is without a job. And yet, the Pontevedra metalworkers' collective agreement is going badly: employers are offering a 5.5% rise over two years and 12% over five, without conceding on working hours, job categories or hazard and toxicity allowances. Workers have no room to endure two months of strike after the summer, it is argued.

The result is an uncomfortable paradox: there is a shortage of skilled labour in specific trades — no plasterer can be found to repair the ceiling of the Teatro Principal in Pontevedra — while purchasing power has been stagnant for fifteen years and the productive model remains unreformed. Talk turns to bringing in workers from elsewhere, but the problem is not just how many arrive, but what is on offer to them.

Record tourism and the Galicia that doesn't make the picture

Pilgrims keep growing without pause: 499,000 in 2024, 530,000 in 2025 and 433,000 up to August 2026, according to the Pilgrim's Office. The Portuguese Way is packed with Americans, the biggest spenders. Portugal promotes the route abroad and Porto airport connects with the world. In Santiago, the area around the cathedral is overwhelming. In Sanxenxo, by contrast, there are fewer people and the hospitality sector complains about restaurant spending.

Tourism pulls, but it does not replace the factory. And meanwhile, rural Galicia keeps settling scores in its own way, according to stories shared in the thread: old men moving boundary markers in secret, a woman striking a neighbour from behind with a hoe. The film As Bestas damaged the image, but the underlying reality exists, it is claimed.

How many more companies have to change hands before someone asks who will be left to pay the wages?