It’s the Costa

Gavin Newlands MP drops into the Spanish village that loves Paisley

Politician Gavin Newlands has taken time out of his busy schedule to visit a Spanish village that is almost “more Paisley” than Paisley.

Gavin travelled to Borgonyà in the region of Catalonia– around 50 miles from Barcelona– to find out more about the community where the local football team plays in black and white and streets have Scottish names.

He was in Spain to discuss the political crisis, which started in October last year when the Catalan Government held a referendum on independence.

Politicians, civic leaders and regular citizens have been charged and thrown in jail for attempting to carry out a mandate given to the Government in the Catalan elections.

Gavin told the Express: “Regardless of your opinion on Catalan independence itself, and that is only for the people of Catalonia to decide on, the sight of voters being attacked without provocation and ordinary people jailed - some of whom have been in jail for nearly a year without trial - is something that should shame Europe and belongs in another place, or another time.

“However, this also gave me the opportunity to visit a village called Borgonyà, which has very close historical links to Paisley.”

From the end of the 19th Century, Borgonyà - home to less than 400 people - had a thread mill industry that operated on a huge scale until around 20 years ago.

The Coats family name helped make Paisley the centre of a global textile empire in the 1800s.

As a major employer, Ferguslie Mills traces its roots back to 1802, when James Coats set up business in the weaving trade before going into partnership with James Whyte, producing Canton Crepe shawls, in which the skill of yarn twisting was an integral part.

In 1826, James Coats built a small thread factory behind his house, in Back Row, Ferguslie, now known as Maxwellton Road.

He retired four years later and his son William took over. The thread business was passed to sons James and Peter, and in July 1830 J & P Coats was formed and expanded to include their piece de