Rio Tinto boasts 3,000 years of mining history, from the Phoenicians to the 1950s. Today, you can visit its museum in the old hospital, a mine and a Victorian-era British house, and take a train ride. It makes for a fascinating day out, all the more so if you're British and are interested in seeing how your forebears lived and worked in Spain in the late 19th and early 20th-century; if you like history, geology, chemistry, metallurgy and/or engineering, then you will love it. But even if you don't, it is a highly enjoyable and fascinating experience for all ages.
WHAT AND WHERE IS IT?
Rio Tinto is a town named after the river which flows close to it, which is coloured red (tinto, as in vino tinto) due to all the mineral ores, such as iron and copper, in its waters. It is located 65km north-west of Seville, in the 230km-Iberian Pyrite Belt, which extends as far as the Atlantic coast of Portugal. Close to the town itself are various mines over a wide area - Corte Atalaya and Cerro Colorado (both open-cast), Peña del Hierro (which can be visited) and Cortalago (Roman mine). The "Parque Minero Riotinto" was set up in 1992, so that visitors can learn about the important history of these mines.
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HISTORY
The Phoenicians mined here, combining copper with tin from Cornwall, to make bronze. The Romans preferred the silver, extracting from the 2nd century BC onwards. To combat flooding, a major risk in deep mining, then used norias (water-wheels) operated in pairs by slaves, raising water from 100 metres below ground. You can get an idea of what conditions were like in the museum which has an excellent reconstruction of a Roman mine. Some even claim that these were the legendary mines of King Solomon.
There was also mining in Visigothic times, then the main evidence of activity in Moorish times is the town of Niebla, with its massive fortified walls, built using wealth partly from granting permits. After that, cheap New World minerals left the mines standing, until 1873, when the Spanish government sold them to a consortium of British and German bankers, which formed the Rio Tinto Mining Company. Their principal product was copper. Many British engineers came to live and work in the town, creating a mini-colony, a microcosm of England, the most visible remainder of which is the Victorian barrio. Bella Vista had terraced, gabled houses with front lawns, mock-Gothic Presbyterian church, social club (bar, concerts, amateur dramatics, tennis and cricket clubs), and numerous other sporting activities, from polo and croquet to golf and football (the first golf course and football pitch in Spain were both built here). They also constructed a railway to transport the ores to the coast, to waiting ships in Huelva, as well as to Seville.
In 1954, the company was sold back to Spanish owners, and the "Projecto Rio Tinto" is currently owned by EMED Mining Tartessus, who want to extract copper again, but the mine has been inactive since 2000, and the company is in negotiation with the government. However, various parts of the "park" are open to the public for guided group tours.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT TO SEE?
The "Parque Minero Riotinto" (Rio Tinto Mining Park) offers enough activities for a whole day out. You can visit the mining and railways museum, with its Roman mine reconstruction and Maharajah's carriage; Peña del Hierro mine, where you enter an actual mining gallery; see inside one of the Victorian houses in Bella Vista, the English barrio, complete with period furniture and decoration; and go on a train trip in an original wooden carriage, to see the old mines and machinery, as well as the extraordinary landscapes.
Open daily from 10.30am to 3pm, and from 4pm to 7pm.
Separate ticket admission for all four attractions, but all can be purchased at the museum.
Tel: 959 59 00 25
Min: 14C