Ford Valencia Body and Assembly

[2] At the time when the plant was planned, the dictator Francisco Franco was still in charge of the Spanish government which pursued a fiercely mercantilist economic policy.

[3] The domestic auto-industry at this time was nevertheless strongly protected, comprising partnerships between foreign automakers and Madrid based interests.

[2] Political changes following Franco's death later culminated with Spain joining the European Economic Community in 1986 which rendered these restrictions redundant.

When it opened, the plant was the designated Fiesta production facility for Europe, though after Franco's death it also assembled Escort models.

[2] More recently, in 2006, with auto-production processes increasingly automated and Ford Europe suffering from serious over-capacity, the plant still had approximately 7,000 employees, and was estimated to account for 21,000 jobs when ancillary suppliers were included in the calculation.