Stock Photo: Francesc Cabana with the previous Conseller d'Economia of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Antoni Castells, in a ceremony at the UIC.

L’Hospitalet i el Baix Llobregat: Una Història Empresarial lifts the lid on the business culture of one of the most important industrial areas of Catalonia during the last few decades. It looks at the evolution of the metal, pharmaceutical, automotive, food, chemical, infrastructure and agricultural industries (among others) and examines their relationship with the local region. The book also contains anecdotes such as the story of the creation of Spain’s first oil refinery, which was located in the area between Hospitalet and Cornellà, and the fact that in 1924 the area had more telephones than anywhere else in Catalonia.

Francesc Cabana is a lawyer and economic historian and was an associate professor at the UIC from 1997 to 2005. He has published books on the history of banking, the Catalan economy and bourgeoisie. Cabana was also one of the founders of Banca Catalana private bank, in addition to working on the Barcelona Stock Exchange (1957 to 1959) and as a World Bank consultant in Equatorial Guinea (1988 to 1992).

In 1998 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi for “his contribution to bringing Catalonia's industrial and economic tradition into the public sphere” and was subsequently elected President of the Barcelona Athenaeum. Since 18 January 2011 he has been the First Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Catalan Encyclopaedia Foundation.