The San Vicent del Raspeig cement plant is an industrial complex that is more than a century old, specifically dating from 1913 under the name of Alicantinas de Cementos, in 1928 it was acquired by Valenciana de Cementos, and in 1992 it passed into the hands of the Mexican multinational Cemex, who is the current owner of it.
The cement factory is located in the municipality of San Vicent del Raspeig, province of Alicante, Spain. For decades, the cement plant was an important source of employment, both direct and indirect, several generations of " Vicentinos " have worked in it, and it significantly boosted the economy of the town, and also, due to the proximity of Alicante capital, there was a notorious population emigration { coming above all from Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalucia }.
Although today it remains closed and abandoned, it is a complex that, beyond its industrial/functional value, has become a piece of historical heritage that deserves to be protected, known and valued. Several of its industrial pieces have great historical and typological value, recognized by prestigious specialists in the field of industrial architecture such as Inmaculada Aguilar Civera. The complex has even been proposed for inclusion in the catalog of industrial architecture of modernity in Spain { DOCOMOMO }. Currently six of its buildings are protected in the Catalog of Protected Assets and Spaces approved by the Ministry of Culture.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, groups of residents of San Vicent del Raspeig, together with environmental groups and regional political parties, have been demanding that the City Council cease the activity of the Cemex cement company, dedicated to the manufacture of white cement and located in an environment each closer to the urban area due to the expansion of the municipality. The University of Alicante was in charge of several studies that demonstrated a high atmospheric pollution due to the activity of the cement factory. In 2008, Greenpeace included in a study entitled Pollution in Spain, that the San Vicent cement plant is the industry that polluted the most in the province of Alicante. Until 2008, only protocols of intent had been signed, which entailed a series of restrictions to be complied with by the multinational and to initiate the definitive cessation of the factory. Finally, the Ministry of the Environment announced that the final date for the closure would be August 1, 2009.
In the year 2022, the Governing Boar of the San Vicent City Council has dismissed the allegations and has denied the works permit presented by Cemex to demolish, recover equipment and dismantle buildings of the old cement factory.
