The craft brewery The Virgin closes all its production and activity. The company La Virgen, which had a significant presence in the community of Madrid, has decided to cease its activity. All after some problems with the city council of Las Rozas (Madrid) where the beer was made and where the necessary permits were obtained.
With this closure, its 78 workers will be affected and the company will begin a dialogue to seek solutions with its employees and reach an agreement. The workers were working in the six restaurant locations that the company had. These were distributed in Majadahonda, Las Rozas and four in Madrid, as well as the main factory also located in the town of Las Rozas.
According to the company, the difficulty in obtaining permits to continue production has been definitive. All this adds to the financial problems that the company was experiencing. This is how they explain it in a statement made public “We have faced a complex situation in terms of obtaining permits for the company's flagship location in Las Rozas. This fact, in combination with the difficult existing financial situation, has led Cervezas La Virgen to make this difficult decision.”
Cervezas La Virgen a reflection of the situation of craft beer in Spain
And after the Covid crisis, high inflation with the rise in raw materials and energy has left the manufacturing sector very touched craft beer. All of this adds to the difficulty of achieving a reasonable market share that allows the viability of these companies.
In the same way as happens in other sectors, there are many small and micro businesses that survive and large corporations that lead the market. All of this makes it very difficult to have a group of craft beer companies of an intermediate size, with good viability, that allow them to innovate and allow the consumer to continue learning from the beer world.
Writes: Santi Llinares
Gastronomic Information Director
