The region of La Rioja in the north of Spain has opened a new centre for footwear technology in the town of Arnedo, known locally as ’shoe city’.

With 313 footwear manufacturing companies employing 3,200 people, the sector is the second most important contributor to the economy of the region, behind agriculture (including its famous wines). The centre opened earlier this year, funded jointly by local firms and the regional government, with the aim of helping the footwear sector improve in areas such as design and innovation.

The region’s president, Pedro Sanz, told the recent World Footwear Congress that footwear exports from La Rioja were worth €109 million in 2006, representing a rise of 18% on the year before. “La Rioja certainly has a future in footwear,” he said. “We don’t just want to survive, we want to lead, to stand out.”

One of the most prominent players in the centre is manufacturing firm Aiccor. Its managing director, Basilio García, told www.leatherbiz.com that shoes from the region were fetching an average wholesale price of just over €20. He said his own company was able to compete at the high end of the market, but that to be able to do so it had had to make a high level of investment, with ten in-house designers and an in-house publicity department.

The middle market is the place for most producers in La Rioja to play, he said. “It would be pointless to try to compete at the low end,” he stated. “No one in Europe can compete there now.”