Tile Files: Spanish ceramics offer forward-looking innovation – November 2025

By Ryan Fasan

Like everything in global trade currently, the ceramic industry is navigating rough and uncertain waters. Thankfully, at least for the European leaders of this industry, there has been foresight to lay the groundwork to mitigate the effects of these trials through innovation. With a key focus on environmental stewardship and corporate governance, the ceramic sector in Spain is leading the way to lower emissions, develop homegrown sustainable energy, fund clean-fuel research initiatives and create an industrywide lifecycle analysis (LCA). It’s exciting to see that all these efforts have not hindered the innovations in design and technology-the very qualities that make us fall in love with a product as old as humanity’s dwellings themselves.

CRISIS BREEDS INNOVATION
Ceramics have been a linchpin of Spanish industry since the early 20th century, so it’s no surprise the government is taking a serious interest in funding research projects to protect the industry and spur innovation in other sectors throughout the 21st century. With the signing of the Paris Accords in 2016, European countries, along with other signatory nations, agreed that carbonization and emissions were an existential threat to human civilization and set to work developing policies and research initiatives to reach carbon neutrality and a 50% reduction in harmful emissions by 2050. Nine years later, we are discovering just how busy they’ve been, with the ceramic sector leading the push on a host of impactful innovations that will benefit many other sectors.

Crisis breeds opportunity for change. As a species, we are not good at finding innovative solutions when things are stable and plentiful. Resource efficiency, and therefore environmental stewardship, has long been an impactful factor of profitability in the EU, where the cost of electricity, natural gas and even water are high. For that reason, EU manufacturers preemptively began to look at sustainable measures as a key method to increase profitability. Between 1980 and 1990, the industry lowered emissions by 50% and created the infrastructure for closed-loop production. Today, water capture and filtration practices have evolved to a point where the percentage of water and waste materials reintroduced into the production stream is in the high 90s. And as recent wars and natural disasters have impacted the supply chain of critical clays and minerals for production, we have started to see a quiet resurgence of locally sourced red-bodied product come back to the market.

As the kilns are one of the highest contributors to both emissions and embodied carbon, they have become a primary focus area for R&D. The switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a fuel source in the ’80s was a primary reason for the 50% reduction in emissions, but we have now learned the adverse effects of carbon emissions inherent in burning such fossil fuels. Spain’s approach has been to work on multiple pathways toward decarbonization. One low-hanging fruit, made possible by the mass adoption of photovoltaics throughout the nation, is the advent of electric kilns.

One key product segment of the Spanish industry is small-format glazed ceramics for walls (think subway tiles). One manufacturer from the region, Equipe, has already been operating a production line for a year with an electric kiln fed from wholly renewable sources of electricity, largely onsite photovoltaics-with many more sure to follow. But for larger-format porcelain, electricity is not a good candidate due to the high temperatures required to sinter porcelain tiles and slabs. The country is looking to hydrogen as a fuel source for this product segment and using its successes in ceramics to spur adoption of alternative fuel in other industries. The cost of hydrogen production has been the primary roadblock to mass adoption of this plentiful,

clean-burning element as a fuel source. To that end, there are multiple research initiatives working in biomass fracking, as well as large-scale electrolyzers powered by renewable electricity. In 2022, a ceramic manufacturer successfully ran a production-scaled test using a blended fuel of LNG and hydrogen as proof of concept for gradual implementation of hydrogen to existing production lines to speed adoption and meet decarbonization goals.

WIDESPREAD POTENTIAL
The real reason all these moves toward true sustainability are viable for ceramics at this moment is the inherent benefits of the product itself, along with the staggering innovations in aesthetics that truly speak to today’s consumers’ wants and needs.

Inherently zero-VOC, inorganic, inert, non-conductive and highly durable, tile is the cheat code for 21st century design. Especially for investment properties, be they commercial operations or a means of generational wealth building for residences, ceramic tile offers a return on investment that asks little of the operator beyond the initial installation cost-and tile brands are looking closely at mitigating that installation cost in product development. From large-format tiles scored so they can be grouted to look like subway tiles or even mosaics, to simple PVC or metal profiles that can easily embed LED lighting in a tile assembly, the industry is actively looking for ways to add value and decrease labor costs associated with installation.

As one of the most durable cladding surfaces, capable of surviving fire or flood, ceramics are increasingly viewed by consumers as a smart option for cladding projects and a means of passive future-proofing. Further, advances in product thickness (think 2cm paving options) and anti-slip glaze technology (in-out glazes that are smooth to the touch but provide high slip resistance when wet) make it even easier and more cost-effective to create a seamless transition from interior to exterior spaces.

Performance and ROI are the narratives we use to justify our gut instincts, but what makes us truly fall in love with a product is how it looks and how it makes us feel, and that’s where ceramic tile truly excels today. The boom in digital decoration technology has changed the game of what’s possible, creating some of the most nuanced and natural-looking products we’ve ever seen.

As a lead-in to some of the industry’s current macro design trends, ceramic inkjet technology must be our starting point. The innovation is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, having been introduced to the industry in 2000 by the Spanish company KeraJet at the Cevisama tile fair in Valencia. Working closely with the largely Spanish glaze and frit industry, printer manufacturers have spent the past two and a half decades developing a host of innovations. Printers have evolved from four-color process to six or even eight colors. Beyond color is where things get truly interesting, though.

Digital decoration now extends to adding or removing volume from tiles’ surface, creating texture, introducing modulations in surface finishes like glossy or matte, and incorporating metallics or even reflective surfaces. These are now part of a graphics file for modern ceramics. In practice, that means a marble-look ceramic program today can perfectly capture not just the visual colors of the stone, but also the mineral variation, vein structure and texture-all aligned precisely with the graphics. The end result is a manufactured product with all the spontaneity and life of a natural material. These capabilities have opened up a world of potential for designers working with ceramics.

One of the key macro trends we’ve seen is a shift toward natural earth tones. Just look at the past two Pantone Colors of the Year; both are shades reminiscent of raw earth and clay.

This is giving rise to a resurgence of terracotta-inspired ceramic programs of all colors, from the deep rusty reds of Mediterranean origin to the ivory tones of French and Turkish cotto to the peachy tones of northern European terracotta. Perhaps because of the rise of terracotta, we’re also seeing a strong revival of other classic ceramic looks, from reactive pottery glazes to raku finishes to Victorian porcelains and classic motifs like Delftware. It’s refreshing to see ceramics take a primary role in design as the technology hits its peak stride, especially since ceramics have been trying to mimic other materials for decades. We were always trying to make the most realistic marble or cement or wood-and we can certainly do that today, but we’re also embracing ceramic looks like zellige, terracotta and vintage subway tiles.

From ancient Egypt to modern times, ceramics have been the medium we look to when seeking to preserve our works for posterity, protect our investments and create performance for generations, all while beautifying what they protect. It has been the favored medium of master artists like Miró because it’s one of the few ways that the arts and sciences truly come together. For the 21st century consumer, it offers the ability to protect generational investments with timeless aesthetics and high-performance characteristics suited for any space we want to create. In an uncertain time, we are leaning on the bedrock of ceramics-modern human-made stone-to provide protection with grace.

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