Norman Kinnersley The founder of 'Spanish Red'

Óxidos Rojos de Málaga, better known as the 'colorao' factory, was founded in 1905 by an English investor called Norman Stuart Kinnersley who came from Somerset in England in search of fortune. However, it was not until 1921 that the company was formally constituted and registered in the Mercantile Register.

The factory opened after the discovery of natural red oxide in the hills of Andalucía and the product was transported in oak barrels by oxen and cart.

In 2021 the factory celebrated its official centenary when 90 per cent of its production was still being exported to more than thirty countries and its turnover was close to two million euros.

The original production plant was in Calle Héroe de Sostoa in the district of Huelin. In the 1970s it moved to the Guadalhorce industrial estate where it continues to operate today, albeit with far fewer workers due to mechanisation.

Today the company is still run by the same family who founded the original business and it continues to employ staff whose family have worked there for generations.

The factory has been passed down from father to son and then onto grandson. The current managing director is Simon Kinnersley, the grandson of the founder.

Óxidos de Málaga is the number one manufacturer and exporter of 'Spanish Red' globally and it still does what it did over 100 years ago: grind iron oxide extracted from Andalusian mines to obtain 'Spanish red', a natural, economical, durable and nontoxic powdered pigment with multiple uses including paint, construction and agriculture

Simon, who is now in his mid-70s, was a freelance journalist in the UK, working for the Daily Mail and The Sun among other media outlets between the 1970s and 1990s. However, when things started to change in the media sector, he decided to move to Malaga and take over the running of the business.