Six years have passed since, as part of Gaudí Year, the organisation of periodic, public visits to the site of the former Pujol i Bausis ceramics factory at Esplugues began. Initially, the initiative was only meant to run during that year – 2002. However, the success, reception and interest aroused – reinforced by the opening of the Can Tinturé Museum housing the Salvador Miquel tile collection – have made it possible to continue the visits right up to the present day.
Despite the un-preserved state of the factory buildings erected by the company in 1913 and 1914, the great variety and unique nature of the kilns in this space, as well as other elements of interest (water tanks, chimney...) make the site quite exceptional.
A visit to “La Rajoleta” introduces us to the earliest beginnings of the factory's history; the extraordinary adventure undertaken by Jaume Pujol i Bausis in 1874 with the production of high-quality ceramics with an advanced design encapsulating the era's message of modernity. In many respects, “La Rajoleta” led the way as a company: the adoption of steam energy in 1886, the recovery of techniques from the golden age, the adoption of new materials such as stoneware, which until then had mostly been imported from the UK, the practice of the dual term art-industry… are facts that reveal the transcendence and scope of the enterprise.
Thanks to the significance of the factory's output of ceramics, especially during the high point of Art Nouveau, Esplugues now forms part of the European Art Nouveau Route. Architects such as Gaudí, Gallissà, Puig i Cadafalch, Domènech i Montaner, Font i Gumà, Bassegoda...embellished their architecture with ceramic elements made at Pujol i Bausis; thus a good many of these architects together with other artists (A. Gual, A. de Riqué, L. Brú...) ordered from the factory.
A visit to the site allows us not only to enjoy the results of the factory's output, but also to get an insight into the production process and the working of their splendid industrial kilns, amongst which we would highlight the six Arab kilns - two of them underground -, the open kiln, the glazing kiln and the two bottle kilns.
The factory's history, from the very start, is extensive, complex and passionate, complete with struggles and uncertainties, with sound judgements and mistakes, but all in the hope of propelling itself into the future.