TALLERES QUINTANAis a small company that originated in 1925, as a result of very personal circumstances that befell Nicolás Quintana Pérez during 1924. In that year, Don Manuel Cruz, one of our great citizens, needed a workshop manager to run his repair and maintenance facilities for his fleet of trucks, which were used, among other things, for collecting mail throughout the island of Tenerife.
Asuncionista Avenue – Santa Cruz de Tenerife – 1932
To do this, he contacted the main and most famous workshop of the nascent automotive industry, owned by Mr. Vargas (“the Hungarian”), the most prestigious mechanic of that time, a true pioneer.
This gentleman recommended Nicolás (Nicolás Quintana Pérez), one of his favorite students. Nicolás Quintana Pérez was about to turn 25 and, in that same year, he would finish his studies as a naval machinist at the Official School of Machinery in Santa Cruz.
At the same time, Nicolás was an interim teacher of the Metalworking and Workshops discipline at the School of Arts and Artistic Crafts of this capital, under the Ministry of Labor.
They spoke with Don Manuel and Nicolás, reached an agreement, and Nicolás joined his new job almost immediately as workshop manager at Don Manuel Cruz's facilities.
In February 1925, competitive examinations were announced in Madrid to fill the vacant positions in the various Schools of Arts and Crafts across Spain, for tenured teachers – the term used for teachers who held permanent positions. Nicolás moved to Madrid, sat the examinations, secured his permanent position, and returned to Tenerife as a newly appointed tenured professor and a civil servant, with a good salary of 125 pesetas a month.
His life takes a radical turn when two circumstances arise that will completely alter his future: buying the workshop, which had been offered to him by Don Manuel Cruz, and getting married. He begins negotiations with Don Manuel and they reach an agreement: the price of the facilities and machinery: 5,000 pesetas. Nicolás doesn't have the full amount and asks Don Manuel for payment plans, which are granted immediately.
The purchase was guaranteed by Mr. Manuel Malledo Brito, a merchant established in the town and Nicolás's future father-in-law, and without further delay, the purchase was completed. This marked the appearance of a new small company, Talleres Quintana, on the Tenerife industrial scene, giving rise to the first generation in March 1925.
Fundición Quintana - 1950
The second significant event in Nicolás's life: on July 25, 1925, the feast day of St. James, Patron Saint of Spain, at the main parish church of Our Lady of the Conception, Nicolás married Doña Concepción Malledo Delgado, thus beginning his new family. Starting in March 1925, the modest workshop Talleres Quintana, guided by the principles of honesty, professionalism, and customer service, embarked on a challenging journey. It attracted the leading industrialists and merchants of the town as clients, including Maximino Acea, Álvaro Rodríguez López, and Sixto Machado...
In 1926, Francisco Quintana Pérez joined the brothers' company. Until then, he had been working as an engineer on the tugboats (steam engines) owned by the firm Cory, which handled port traffic. In 1928, the youngest of the brothers, Santiago, joined. He had been working as a turner at Puma, a company involved in the construction of the South Pier. In 1929, a plot of land was purchased on the main road to the South, opposite the El Chapatal estate, owned by Mr. Álvaro Rodríguez López. It was bought there because it was on the outskirts and therefore cheaper. Immediately, construction began on a two-storey building. The ground floor was for a modern, spacious, and bright workshop, and the upper floor, containing two flats, was for Francisco and Nicolás.
In 1932, construction was completed in "La Costa," as that area was known, and the workshop was moved from its original location opposite what would later become the Numancia cinema to its new, modern facilities on the main southern highway. The spaciousness and modernity of the new facilities, along with the three brothers' unwavering determination and work ethic, ensured a positive start. That same year, they began a modest collaboration with Cepsa, which was also taking its first steps toward becoming a major global corporation.
In 1940, a cupola furnace for iron casting and two crucible furnaces for melting non-ferrous metals were installed in the workshop, on an adjacent plot of land. The four weathervanes for the towers of La Basílica de Nuestra Selira de Candelaria were cast in bronze and machined. Large-scale metalwork projects were undertaken (the roof of Cinelandia, in La Cuesta; wrought iron gates in Las Mantecas, at the entrance to the Rodríguez López residential area; the first wastewater system; and the assembly of the Rodríguez López and Novaro Mora fish canneries in La Gomera and Tenerife, respectively). The repair of automobiles and trucks was gradually phased out due to the increasing difficulty of obtaining spare parts, and the workshop shifted its focus to larger-scale projects.
In the growing collaboration with Cepsa, and given the increasing difficulties this company faces in replacing different parts of its distillation systems, including trays for its product fractionation towers, motivated by the current wartime conflict, the oil company contacts Talleres Quintana, with whom they have had a good relationship for several years. The relevant studies are carried out and Talleres Quintana, in a great effort, casts and machines these trays, allowing the company to maintain its production.
Barranco de Jagua – 1973
The era of significant naval repairs began, with the refitting of Italian ships that had been anchored in our harbor since the beginning of the Second World War, as they belonged to a belligerent nation and we were a neutral country. Repairs were carried out on their engines, decks, hulls, rigging, and other components, leaving them ready to return to Italy.
In 1950, Nicolás Quintana Malledo, the eldest son of Nicolás Quintana Pérez, joined the company.
In 1958, Nicolás Quintana left the company and began a journey of work in large local, national and foreign companies, accumulating experience and knowledge.
In 1970, Nicolás Quintana Malledo returned to Tenerife, bought a plot of land in the Jagua ravine, opposite the Fishing Dock, and built an industrial warehouse equipped with all services. He contacted his father and uncles, reaching an economic agreement with each of them, co-owners in varying proportions, covering the entire company and all personnel (a key element of the agreement), and moved the entire operation to his facilities in the Jagua ravine, spacious and modern facilities, ready to start. the second generation of Workshops Quintana, coinciding practically with the 45 anniversary.
Through hard work and great effort, the company was consolidated, propelling it towards new goals and new horizons. Always striving to provide better and more comprehensive customer service, the company applied to the relevant authorities for a plot of land in the fishing port; the permit was granted, and a new workshop was built.
In 1985, is just the construction of the new workshop and made the transfer from Jagua to the Fishing Dock, coinciding with the 60th anniversary. In this same year, he transformed the shop for Repairs N. Quintana SL partner is Nicholas Quintana Valero, “Nico”, son of Nicholas Quintana Malledo, grandson of master Nicholas.
Nico begins a hard way, of intense dedication, following in the footsteps of two generations in the workshop.
In 1998, due to various personal circumstances, events unfolded rapidly, and Nico, Nicolás Quintana Valero, had to take full charge of the company and prove he was ready, assuming complete responsibility.Thus beginning the third generation.The facilities were expanded, the machinery was modernized, making way for new technology, and "Nico" got things moving, initiating a period of strong relationships with major clients.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=»181″ media_width_percent=»60″ uncode_shortcode_id=»375814″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=»153608″]
Talleres Quintana Today.
In March 2005, Talleres Quintana celebrated 80 years of uninterrupted activity, continuing in its traditional style.
A new face is beginning to emerge from the shadows, a young, cheerful face, eager to live, eager to do: Nicolás Quintana Ramos, son of Nicolás Quintana Valero, grandson of Nicolás Quintana Malledo, and great-grandson of the teacher Nicolás. Perhaps one day he will say, “Now it’s my turn.” Dreaming costs nothing; “a fourth generation is on the horizon.”
This is as far as I've come with all those experiences and anecdotes, which have given me the immense privilege of having lived with these three generations and perhaps the beginning of another. I have enough anecdotes and memories to fill many pages; it's been many years.
Thank you colleagues, thank you friends and clients. Thank you Nico and thank you nico (you have to earn the capital letter).
N.Q.M. 1925/2021
This is how my grandfather told our story back in 2005, and now almost two decades later I regret not having continued this tale. I have had to take charge of the family business during complicated years, crises, pandemics, but always with the invaluable and unconditional help of my father and my grandfather until a few days ago…
I hope to reach where they did, although seeing where we are and what we have achieved is already a victory for me.
I'll miss those morning coffees with my grandfather where he'd always tell a story, but most of all, I'll cherish that proud look he had when he said goodbye each day, after taking a stroll through the workshop.
As he would have said, "this year we celebrate our first 96 years open" and the secret is, in not changing the recipe that has been working for so many years: Seriousness, consistency and good work.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=»182″ media_width_percent=»70″ uncode_shortcode_id=»195114″][/vc_column][/vc_row]