Riotinto was, and still is, a village solely dependent on mining. This dependence distinguishes the village from other Andalusian villages.
The history of ore mining can be traced back to the Bronze Age.
The last mine was closed in 2001. In view of the rising commodity prices since 2008, mainly for copper, mining became lucrative again. The mine has been in operation again since 2016.
We walked past the museum to the viewpoint of the mine, which is now active again. The way there was a bit of an adventure.
Once there, we could only marvel at how huge such a mine is. The many large construction vehicles look like toy vehicles.
We watched the hustle and bustle on the construction site for quite some time. Every now and then one of the workers honked at us and waved in a friendly manner. It was a special spectacle when all the vehicles puffed up the hill one after the other and lined up in the parking lot at the end of the day. This was also the time for us to make our way back.
The entire area of the Minas del Riotinto extends over quite a large area, where sightseeing is very interesting not only in Riotinto itself but also to a large extent in the nearest town of Nerva. For this reason, we decided to drive 5 kilometres further to the free parking area in Nerva the next day. After lunch, we packed a rucksack with a small snack and drink and set off on a hike to the Minas de Riotinto area, where we were immersed in a partly surreal world. It took us about 15 minutes to get from our pitch to the starting point, the Estacíon Tren Turistíco Minero (tourist train station), where the almost 7-8 km long circular trail begins. If you want, you can also take the tourist railway through the mining area. After this adventure, we were glad we had chosen the footpath, as there is no more intense way to see this area.
The whole route runs alongside the Rio Tinto river, whose acidic and poisonous water is an incredible array of colours, from bright reddish yellow to dark red and almost black. We are also accompanied by a slight smell of sulphur in places.
The highlight for us was the railway cemetery of the former Las Zarandas station. To get here, we had to walk over an old railway bridge that crossed the river, giving us the feeling that everything had simply been abandoned. There are rusty machines and vehicle parts lying around everywhere. Some trains and transport trailers are still standing on the tracks. It shows us an indescribable picture.
Back on the original hiking trail, we reach the lavadoras (mineral washing machines), the industrial plant. A size classification plant for low-grade raw pyrite was built around 1910. Between 1910 and 1935, the plant was responsible for the separation of fine pyrite and morrongo and for the processing of pyrite from the stockpiles. It was renovated in 1954. The plant was finally closed in 1960.
Our hike continued through a surreal landscape until we were finally back at the starting point, the tourist railway station, and from there we walked on to our pitch.
It was an incredible experience for us to have learnt about the history of the Minas de Riotinto. This impressive and breathtaking landscape is sometimes reminiscent of a lunar landscape and sometimes you think you could be on Mars. It shows us an incredible play of colours, both the Rio Tinto, the mine and the landscape itself.