Barcelona Demonstrations, Brexit Dent Growth of Spain’s Fashion Sector

MADRID — Take a step forward, then take a step back. That is the way some observers feel about Spain’s textiles and apparel market, which they claim is starting to show signs of weakness amid a slowing economy, geopolitical uncertainty and a growing separatist crisis with Catalonia, the wealthy region home to Barcelona. This contrasts with gradual yet solid gains in the past five years when executives celebrated the industry’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and the major real-estate bubble that followed it. “We are not making progress,” said Carmen Esposito, who leads the textiles and apparel chapter at Spanish trade union Comisiones Obreras. “We were growing 2 to 3 percent after 2014 [when Spain began to emerge from the financial meltdown] and added many jobs last year. But this year everything has stopped. Textile production and exports, which Esposito specifically tracks for the union, are expected to gain 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, she said, mirroring gains posted last year. In 2017, textile and clothing output gained 1.5 percent while exports were much stronger, added Esposito. Still, she noted that the industry’s health has improved since 2008-09 when 70,000 to 80,000 jobs were lost in the downturn as five to six

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