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Some facts about the history of Caixa Rural Vilafamés
On 10 February 1935 the Constituent Assembly of the Caja Rural del Sindicato Agrícola San Isidro de Vilafamés was held, although the start of the credit activity of the union traces its origins to 1909.
The premises used by the “Sindicato Agrícola de San Isidro Labrador de Villafamés” Agricultural Union, founded by the Jesuit Mn. Lorenzo Cot Costa in 1908, provided the vene for the meeting, attended by the president Vicente Conde Segarra, the treasurer Manuel Chiva Albalat and the secretary Daniel Mallasén Valls, as well as representatives from the Federation of Castellón, the parish priest José Montañés, and numerous associates and members of the public.
The creation of this organisation was not an isolated event, since in the 1930s there were over a thousand rural savings banks in Spain. The initiative proved very popular, and in the first month, 45 savings book accounts and 4 fixed-term deposits were taken out.
During the Spanish Civil War, the organisation ceased operations and all its documentation was lost. It was rebuilt following the post-war crisis. In July 1950, with Juan Ramón Gil Andreu as the president, it recommenced operating with the motto “Some for others, God for all”. It issued a statement inviting customers to open new savings book accounts and recognising the balance of existing savings books from 1939. These amounts were honoured by the agricultural cooperative, making use of its reserves.
DRight from those early years, the organisation focused largely on providing finance for agricultural entities, running campaigns for customers to open accounts for their children, and providing finance to members under what we would now refer to as microloans. These loans were for 500 pesetas (approximately one month’s wages) with two guarantors, annual interest of 6%. A total of 492.50 pesetas was effectively disbursed and, after three months, they had to repay the principle sum. All loans were repaid.
In 1964, a significant event occurred for the organisation: members of Bodega Cooperativa, founded seven years previously, opened accounts to collect revenues from the harvest. The total number of accounts shot up from 56 to 217. Over the next three years, deposits doubled to around thirteen million pesetas (77,000 euros).
It was a time of growth with the opening of a contemporary art museum in the town, a pioneering initiative in Spain, and the establishment of two ceramics companies. Both these events had major repercussions, adding a further two economic driving forces in addition to wine-making to the local area.
In 1969, with Vicente Benet Meseguer as the president and José Andreu Benet as the managing director, the current building was constructed in Avenida Barceló and authorisation was obtained from the Ministry of Work for the credit section of the agricultural cooperative to be turned into a financial entity, which in 1977 was recognised by the Bank of Spain.
In 1974, with the incorporation of José Melchor Marzá Andreu, the Savings Bank had two employees. The following years, up to the mi 1980s, were tough. A banking crisis led to the disappearance of numerous entities, including 10 savings banks in the province of Castellón. In Vilafamés, to make matters worse, there was also a crisis in the wine-making industry.
In 1983, when José Vicente Gil Galindo was the chair of this entity, the savings accounts were mechanised using Nixdorf computing equipment. And in 1995 the first ATM was installed in Vilafamés.
At the general assembly meeting held on 28 June 1996, with Jaime Salvador Martínez as the chair, the members agreed to join the Spanish Association of Rural Savings Banks, the Banco Cooperativo Español, Rural Servicios Informáticos and the insurance provider RGA.
In the second half of that year, profits fell significantly owing to the reduction of the gross margin against a backdrop of falling interest rates and an increase in general administration costs. With Miguel Fornals Allepuz as president, the credit cooperative undertook some reforms and increased its productivity, and a year later it had consolidated its recovery.
Between 1998 and 2007, with a favourable economic situation, the rural savings bank doubled its deposits and its capital, achieving a high level of solvency to withstand the current crisis.
In 2002, with Xavier Allepuz Marzá as president, the "Saló Multiús Sant Isidre" premises opened on Avenida Ferrer Forns, thereby increasing the possibilities of its social initiatives. This venue hosts events run by the savings bank itself and by numerous local associations.
Since 2005, it has offered an internet banking service. It continues to provide finance to agricultural cooperatives, for example, the local cooperative oil mill in 2008, which produced its first extra virgin olive oil in November.
Following the economic and financial crisis of 2008, and as a result of the merger between Ruralcaja and Cajamar Caja Rural, and the integration of Grupo Cajas Rurales del Mediterráneo and Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, in 2012 Caixa Rural de Vilafamés, along with the other entities affiliated to the CRM Group, became part of Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, Spain's leading financial cooperative, and has been a member of this group ever since.
As regards the most recent years, the history of our present time, in 2020, the General Assembly of Shareholders elected a new Steering Committee characterised by gender equality, composed of six members, three men and three women. Mr. Alejandro Verdoy is standing down as the president of the Entity, bringing to an end his 16-year term that saw 80% growth in the deposits held by members and customers of this credit institution, and ushering in a new era under the current presidency of Mr. Luis Andreu Puchol.
In September 2024, Eduardo Julián Azuara Palomo, who has been a director for the last thirty-seven years, parted ways with the bank. He first came to Vilafamés in 1987, having passed a selection process held by Caja Rural Provincial de Castellón. Since then he has always maintained professional and personal links to cooperativism in the town and surrounding region, through Caixa Rural de Vilafamés and Cooperativa Agrícola San Isidro de Vilafamés. He has helped to bolster, revitalise and strengthen both banks, enabling them to continue on a journey that began over a century ago. Over the span of nearly four decades leading up to the conclusion of his professional activity, he has been widely recognised and valued not only by members, governors and colleagues at the bank but by all the residents of Vilafamés.