Tabacalera, formerly the Compañía Arrendataria de Tabacos, was a Spanish

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

whose origins date back to 1636, making it the oldest tobacco company in the world. In 1999, the company merged with

SEITA SEITA (''Société d'exploitation industrielle des tabacs et des allumettes''), was the former French state-owned tobacco monopoly. Cigarette brands included Gauloises and Gitanes, both created in 1910. It merged in 1999 with its Spanish equivalen ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to form

Altadis Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through i ...

, which was later purchased by

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mo ...

. Its

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

s included Ducados and

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

. Tabacalera owns 50% stake in Cuba's official cigar export operation Corporación Habanos. Since buying the stake 15 years ago, Tabacalera has played a key role in marketing and selling Cuban cigars in more than 150 countries around the world.

References

Tobacco companies of Spain Companies based in Madrid Defunct manufacturing companies of Spain Former monopolies Companies established in 1636 1636 establishments in Spain Spanish companies disestablished in 1999 Imperial Brands {{Industry-company-stub