From 1840 the ore deposits of the Sierra de Gádor show signs of exhaustion leading to closures of mines and foundries. This would have much that see the discovery of the lead seam in the Barranco Jaroso (Sierra Almagrera) in 1838. The mining of the Spanish Levant will go through a new impulse, which encouraged the register and request and operation of new adjacent mines to the Vera, Aguilas, Lorca, Mazarron and Cartagena mountain ranges.
The importance of Aguilas in modern mining of the Southeast of Spain has gone unnoticed until our dates, while it began to be noticed from the second third of the 19th century. The two main events that confirm its role on other mining enclaves as La Union, Mazarron or even Cartagena was, firstly, the construction of lead foundries in the Bahia de Levante inlet, and secondly, the establishment of the office Mines inspection office of the District of Sierra Almagrera and Murcia in the village of Águilas in 1846.
At the beginning of the 20th century almost all of the municipality distrist area of Aguilas was covered by registers made by mining engineers that traveled through the furthest spots of our municipality. Thanks to records and drawings those engineers made between 1870 and 1920, today, after a meticulous and laborious process of data updating process, I have recreated the landscape and the major geographical features and landmarks of the Aguilas municipality at that time, recovering from oblivion a lot of forgotten spots and names of places fade over the years, as the name country houses, farms, streams, furnaces, inns, etc. as well as some of its first and very illustrious inhabitants.
(Coming soon) |
