Parets is one of the most important industrial centres of the comarca (about 5,000 workers). Most of those who work in Parets are employed by small or medium-sized companies, but major firms (for example Danone, Nutrexpa, Grupo Zeta, Fujifilm, Freudenberg, Grifols, Solvay, and Novartis) are represented. There are five industrial estates, mainly to the west of the Tenes river: Llevant, Can Volart, Eixample Industrial, Sector Mollet and Sector Autopista. The total area comes to 199 Ha. Parets has an important forest and agricultural area shared among seven municipalities: Santa Maria de Gallecs. This area has been saved from new housing development – paradoxically, this was because it had already been ear-marked for housing, though this never came to fruition. Now, Gallecs has been officially recognised as an important nature reserve and several activities are undertaken to preserve it from the constant threat of building development. Gallecs, along with the forest of Torre d'en Malla, Can Serra, the Tenes river, the Seca stream, and the biological corridor between these two streams, constitute a network of natural spaces deserving special attention, as it is one of the few in the comarca big enough to support natural systems. Parets has good transport connections. Two important traffic arteries pass through the municipality: the AP-7 Motorway and the C-17 highway (formerly N-152), as well as local roads. The RENFE railway lines from Barcelona to Vic and Puigcerdà call at Parets, and several bus services connect Parets to Barcelona and other town, in addition to local bus services within the town. Parets has a coastal Mediterranean climate. Temperature is moderate (average going from 7 °C to 9 °C in winter and from 22 °C to 25 °C in summer). This is a fortified farmhouse situated between the rivers Tenes and Besòs, and probably built on the site of an ancient Roman villa named "Villa Abdela", located on the Via Augusta. It originated in the 13th century and was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. It has a square base, a four-sided roof, and two round towers in the opposite angles of the building, with battlements and loopholes for weapons. Nowadays, this medieval fortress is in the middle of an industrial estate.