- This Monday morning, three machines arrived in Etxebarria (Bizkaia) that will produce more than ten million face masks a month. Bexen Medical is in charge of producing face masks, and they have announced that they will be able to start in the middle of next week. Machines will operate 24 hours a day for seven days a week.
The three machines have been installed in the facilities of the Cikautxo cooperative, as Bexen Medical has not yet prepared the facilities of Hernani. The masks produced will be destined for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. The Mondragon cooperative is responsible for the project, as it is a company of the Cikautxo cooperative. The Spanish Army has been in charge of transferring the machines to the Etxebarri plant.
On March 16, the cooperative launched the project of mask manufacturing, entrusting the Chinese company Mondragon Aseembly with the construction of machinery for mask production. Three of the machines have been transferred to Etxebarria, and the fourth to Burgos (Spain), to a military pharmacy of the Spanish Ministry of Defence.
The masks will be used for hospitals, socio-health centres, businesses and the population. The production of the first face masks is planned for the end of April. These masks shall be of 2R type, with three layers and single use. They are the most reliable surgical masks, as they offer 98% protection.
The Basque Government Minister for Economic Development, Arantxa Tapia, announced that by June production could be doubled and produced "in the Basque Country and the Basque Country".