The Vielha Wool Factory is representative of the small textile industries that emerged from the second half of the 19th century on both sides of the central Pyrenees.

The factory was built in the late 19th century by Josep Portolés Viló, a resident of Vielha who had learned the wool trade in Miramont-de-Comminges (France), the city where his wife’s family were from.

The factory was powered by the Nere River. An outer channel brought the water to a wooden water wheel attached to a long wooden shaft. The wheel, in turn, was attached to the gears of the machinery and transmitted the force of water.

After three generations dedicated to the wool trade, the Portolés family closed the wool factory in the 1970s as a result of decreased production.