The city of Ibi in the province of Alicante is the centre of the Spanish toy industry, most model car manufacturers were or are based here. Diecast model cars in various scales have been manufactured in Spain since the 1950s, first by Jadali and Dalia, since the 1960s by Pilen (later AHC), Joal, Guisval, Nacoral, Mira and Guiloy. Anguplas and later Eko made 1/86th and 1/43rd scale plastic models, and companies such as Paya and Rico, which produced tinplate and later plastic models in larger scales, were already in business before World War II. Models of the Spanish Seat cars could or can be found in the ranges by Joal (later specialized in trucks and construction models), Mira, AHC/Pilen, Herpa and Minichamps. The sports and luxury cars built in Spain by Hispano-Suiza and Pegaso have been modelled by several companies specialized in classic car models. In the 1960s and 1970s, several French manufacturers (e.g. Dinky Toys France) let produce their models in Spain, too. Since the Spanish automobile industry consisted of Seat and of French cars manufactured under licence at that time, the French Dinky Toys modelling Citroëns, Peugeots, Renaults and Simcas were very popular in Spain. In the 1990s several Spanish manufacturers became well-known for their slotracing cars, e.g. SCX, Ninco and Fly. Fly also released a small range of highly detailed diecast models. After the year 2000, partworks - collections of model cars (mostly variations of well-known models made by Chinese manufacturers) sold along with magazines at newspaper stands - have become very popular in Spain, like in France and Italy. The most important Spanish companies in this market are Altaya, Del Prado, Salvat and Planeta De Agostini.
Spain