Deep in the Sierra de Aracena, above the village of Minas de Riotinto in the province of Huelva, men have been toiling since the Iron Age to extract its rich deposits of gold, silver, iron ore and copper. Then  the Industrial Revolution arrived,  mechanising  these age-old skills and transforming the countryside out of all recognition into the largest open cast mining area in Europe. At the height of  production a century ago 19,000  workers were employed here by The Rio Tinto Company Limited founded by a British consortium in 1873.

Amongst the British managerial staff and their families, living in a hilltop residential area of typical Victorian terraced houses, still known as “el barrio inglés”, life was carried out in a faithful copy of Victorian society, whilst the Spanish work force continued their traditional lifestyle in the village below. The British community had their own school, hospital, church, graveyard, boy scout troop, village fête on Queen Victoria’s birthday and even introduced to Spain such sports as cricket, golf and football. The first football match ever in Spain, was played in 1890 between a team of expatriates from Sevilla and the team from Riotinto known as the Huelva Recreation Club, which has survived today as Real Club Recreativo de Huelva.

In order to ship minerals back to the booming factories and foundaries of Britain, a narrow guage railway line, 80 km in length, was constructed between Minas de Riotinto and the  port of Huelva, where a second British community of harbour and shipping officials developed around another typical residential area known as “el barrio Reina Victoria”.   

A British cemetery was also built for them in Huelva, though its most famous occupant was not a mining employee, but the central character in one of the most successful intelligence ploys of the Second World War,  depicted in the film “The Man Who Never Was”. With the consent of his family, the body of a man who had died of pneumonia, was dressed in British military uniform and dropped overboard from a ship in a faked drowning incident off the shores of Huelva in 1943. With false identity papers and documents containing misleading information about planned allied D-day landings at Calais (not Normandy), as intended he was found by a local fisherman, handed over to the resident German consul and the information forwarded to the German High Command. Buried in the British Cemetery in Huelva under the false name, his true identity was not revealed until his family visited the grave after the war.

The mines at Rio Tinto were eventually taken over by the Spanish State in 1954 but, despite continuing attempts by various owners since to streamline production of the last remaining viable mineral, copper, costs gradually began to exceed the  depressed market price and they finally closed a few years ago.

In an attempt to find other employment opportunities to replace the hundreds of jobs lost over the years, a new venture was begun under the auspices of the Riotinto Mining Park and Museum, as part of an overall plan for developing rural tourism in the province of Huelva, and conserving the local mining traditions. In this unique theme park, today’s visitor has a wealth of interesting activities to choose between, including Spain’s first mining and metallurgy museum housed in the former British hospital, and which spans 5,000 years of local mining history. The displays include a model of a Roman undergound mine as well as a special section of railway exhibits, whose star attraction, the “Maharajah’s Carriage”, was used for a visit to the mines by King Alfonso XIII of Spain and, is considered the most luxurious narrow guage passenger carriage in the world.

In addition you can take a  stroll through the “barrio inglés”, drive up to the “mirador” for a breathtaking view down over the vast mining area or join a guided tour of one of the mines. Most exciting of all you can board a restored 100-year old mining train, now run on diesel, for a 2-hour guided journey along the original tracks following the Rio Tinto river, whose blood-red colour creates a very dramatic picture as it winds through the barren hillsides tinted in  shades of ochre, violet, green and yellow by the minerals within. 

The latest attraction is a magnificent restored steam train, which puffs along the same track the first Sunday of the month between October and May. (Train tickets are on sale at the musem). Apart from several restaurants catering to the growing  tourist trade, Minas de Riotinto now has an attractive new 3* hotel “Santa Barbara”, spectacularly situated on a hill above the village, with panoramic views of the deserted mines below and the  distant wooded hills of the sierras.

This venture has been awarded several Andalucian Tourism prizes, and attracts both Spanish and foreign visitors, who often combine a stay in Minas de Riotinto with an excursion to nearby Aracena, a delightful small hilltop town 30 km to the north, crowned by the ruins of a Templar castle. It is renowned for its pottery and handcraft workshops; an open-air museum of modern sculpture; restaurants serving local produce such as Jabugo serrano ham and wild mushrooms (“setas”) from Fuenteheridos, and its spectacular “Gruta de la Maravillas” -  caves hollowed out by rivers below the castle, where a 45-minute tour leads you through a wonderland of extraordinary shapes and colours mirrored in  the limpid underground pools.

WHERE TO STAY & VIST:
Hotel “Santa Barbara”, Minas de Riotinto      959 59 18 52
The Riotinto Mining Museum and Park          959 59 00 25

HOW TO GET THERE:
From Sevilla: E-1 motorway to Huelva, branching off 13 km east of the city to join the N-435 northwards (direction Badajóz)  to Zalamea, from where the A-461 leads to Minas de Riotinto. For an alternate return journey continue eastwards on the A-461/A-476 to join up with the N-433 towards Sevilla.

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Issue: January 2006