Las Minas de Rio Tinto
The town of Las Minas de Rio Tinto has always been based around, and dependent on, the mines themselves which give it its name. Las Minas reached its peak of prosperity and importance in the late 19th/early 20th century, when the British were running the mines.
Today, the town wears its heritage proudly, and many visitors come to find out about the history of this fascinating industry, which dates back to Roman times. The former hospital, an attractive white building atop the hill, built in 1927, with a replica lift outside, is now the headquarters of the Riotinto Mining Park. This consists of a museum (also housed in the hospital), a mine you can visit, a train ride and Casa 21, one of the original houses in the perfectly-preserved Victorian English barrio where the engineers lived.
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The town itself dates back to the 18th century, when it was part of Zalamea la Real. It officially became a municipality in 1841; then, in 1873, the British arrived and everything changed, industrially, economically and demographically. By 1891, several new barrios had been built: Alto de la Mesa, Bella Vista (the English quarter), El Valle and La Atalaya. The original Andalusian "pueblo" with its traditional houses and Baroque church, known as La Mina, gradually disappeared.
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| The Mine Train |
Apart from the hospital, other buildings from the heyday of the mines have been put to other uses - look out for Rio Tinto Mining Company's former headquarters, in an elegant Edwardian building above the square - you can still see the windows where the miners' wives collected their husbands' wages. This now houses the local Ayuntamiento (Town Hall). The various train stations from the original railway, used to transport the ores, are now a youth hostel, sports club and flamenco club, and the guest house is now an old people's day care centre.
Although it was strongly discouraged, some of the British and other nationality mineworkers married local girls, so you may see some fair-haired, blue-eyed people in the village who aren't tourists, but mixed-nationality locals dating from these controversial marriages.
Local poet and writer Juan Cobos Wilkins's bestselling novel El Corazon de la Tierra (The Heart of the Earth), based on the story of a popular uprising at the mines in 1888, was recently made into an Anglo-Spanish film. It was filmed using locals as extras (many of whose ancestors took part in the original events), and locations included the town of Las Minas itself, with Bella Vista houses featured, Corta Atalaya mine, as well as Linares de la Sierra, Trigueros and Mazagon
The town itself is built on rolling hills, covered by pine and eucalyptus trees planted by the British for use in the mines. Local fiestas include the Cruces de Mayo (May Crosses), the town's patron saint, San Roque, in August, and the Virgen del Rosario, in October. Minas de Riotinto is 75km from Huelva. Take exit 75 off the A49 towards Trigueros. Then take the N-435, and after Trigueros and Zalamea la Real, carry on along the A461.
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Min: 14C