Cuenca Minera

Why visit Cuenca Minera

The Cuenca Minera lies in the heart of Huelva province, around the headwaters of the Río Tinto, and it looks like nowhere else in Andalucía. Thousands of years of mining for copper, silver and other metals have left terraced open pits, slag heaps and a river stained red and ochre by its mineral-rich water, set among pine-covered hills. The British-run Rio Tinto Company shaped the towns in the nineteenth century, building a railway, a Victorian residential quarter and, by local tradition, bringing football to Spain. It suits travellers interested in industrial history, photographers drawn to otherworldly scenery and anyone combining a day trip with the Sierra de Aracena to the north.

Main attractions in Cuenca Minera

The Parque Minero de Riotinto is the main draw, combining the mining museum in Minas de Riotinto, the Bella Vista quarter of British-style houses and a viewpoint over the vast Corta Atalaya open pit. Its restored mining railway follows the red river through cuttings and old stations, and Peña de Hierro near Nerva offers a guided walk into a mine gallery beside the source of the Río Tinto. Nerva also has a museum of contemporary art, while Zalamea la Real preserves prehistoric dolmens in its countryside. Walkers and mountain bikers can follow tracks along the riverbanks and through the pinewoods around Berrocal, Campofrío and La Granada de Río-Tinto, and the mineral-stained landscape is a favourite subject for photographers. Local kitchens favour hearty stews, game and Iberian pork from the neighbouring sierra, and the mining towns celebrate their patron saints with summer fairs.