Calvo y Munar

This business’ origins reach back to 1902, when Mauricio Bravo Hidalgo opened a store selling lead and porcelain bathroom fixtures. In those days indoor bathrooms were uncommon, but there were homes in the Salamanca district which had begun to introduce them as a new type of luxury.

In 1927, three partners took over the business: Villaverde, Calvo and Munar, and in 1932 it was renamed Calvo y Munar. The company soon became known for its innovation, and it is one of the Spanish companies best known for its bathroom design. For example, Munar invented and patented the seat-bath (a bathtub with a seat), and the polyban, (a sort of shower dish, though deeper, which was used as a bidet).

In the 1940s the company began to diversify. Today they are leaders in the distribution of bathroom items, kitchen furnishings, tiles and ceramics, and heating and plumbing materials.