Grupo Gámiz, a partner in the Life Haya project, has launched a new industrial phase at its plant in Santa Cruz de Campezo (Álava), which directly supports the objectives of our project:to highlight the value of beech wood as a local, sustainable, and high-performance resource
The iconic company from Álava, founded in 1942, has completed a comprehensive renovation of its sawmill with an investment of more than 3.5 million euros—with the support of the Basque Government, which contributed 40% of the total. With this expansion, Grupo Gámiz resumes on-site sawing of hardwoods, including beech, and becomes the largest hardwood sawmill in the Basque Country.
A brand that resonates with Life Haya
The plant’s modernization is not just an industrial improvement: it is a strategic step that aligns with Life Haya’s mission. The new facility has the capacity to process 20,000 m³ of hardwoods annually —European oak, American red oak, beech, and ash—ensuring a primary processing infrastructure capable of absorbing and adding value to the beech wood promoted by the project.
Grupo Gámiz actively participates in Life Haya Hardwood For The Home as a project partner, contributing its expertise and industrial capacity to the work focused on the recovery, promotion, and technical development of beech wood. This new plant reinforces that commitment with updated facilities and increased production capacity.
The Álava-based company uses sawn lumber to manufacture value-added products under its own brands: laminated profiles (PERFIGAM), laminated panels (ALIGAM), and laminated beams (VIGAM), 95% of which are exported outside of Spain. Grupo Gámiz is also the exclusive distributor in Spain of ACCOYA® acetylated wood.
This end-to-end process—from the log in the forest to the finished product ready for architects, construction companies, and developers—is fully in line with Life Haya’s vision of demonstrating that local beech wood can compete in the European construction and interior design markets.
Grupo Gámiz employs 86 people in Santa Cruz de Campezo, a town of about 1,000 residents in the Montaña Alavesa region. The sawmill’s operations are a clear example of how the use of local hardwood creates jobs and economic development in the region—one of the pillars of the Life Haya approach.
