Bordalo Pinheiro, the figurehead for Portuguese expertise in ceramics and earthenware, is about to close. The 100-year-old company is unable to ride out the crisis. It's a hard blow for the entire sector.

This is where one of the country's most popular ceramic characters is manufactured: "This is 'Zé Povinho'. He's got no choice but to live in a barrel because he has no clothes. He represents the weakest part of society, poor people", explains Vitor Pires, Export manager at the Bordalo Pinheiro factory.

Industrial-scale production of crockery, decorative tiles and earthenware floor tiling is no longer enough to keep the business viable. "60 to 70% of our production was going to the United States", says Pires. "Orders have plummeted. Clients who used to spend 100,000 euros have cut right back to 20,000 euros worth of orders."

Five o'clock at the factory. The workers are leaving. All of the 162 people who work here have been told they're being laid off. According to José Fernando, spokesman for the Leiria trade unions, "the situation is that these workers, who are already owed a good month and a half of wages, have seen no indication at all from management that it's studying any 'viability plans' to enable it to carry on functioning."
 

Portugal's ceramics industry employs a total of around 23,000 people. Those who work in the decorative sector, or in tiling for construction purposes, are all in danger of losing their jobs.

"We're usually talking about people who have few qualifications and are already getting on in age, who've done nothing else in their entire lives except finish or paint these articles. So placing them in other sectors is extremely difficult", says Célia Roque, director of the employment office at Caldas da Rainha.
 

At Faria e Bento, another factory, Maria - a worker - tells us that entire families have suddenly found themselves in dire straits: "My sister and sister-in-law both worked in ceramics. They're unemployed now and can't find jobs. So yes, of course we're all scared."

According to the manager, Carlos Faria, his company is surviving for the moment thanks to its niche markets: "What some companies – ours among them – are doing is focussing on products aimed at upper middle class consumers who still have enough buying power, and producing quality products, special designer ranges."

Will these tiles become no more than the memory of an architectural tradition? With emblematic factories closing, it's not only economic wealth but a cultural treasure trove that is disappearing.