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And the Rio Tinto minesThe normal route for tourists visiting the mines is either up the A66 and N433 from Seville and then west on the N476 through Nuerva, or else up the N435 from Huelva and through Valverde. But this is a a better route because it takes in Aznarcollar. Leave Seville on the A49 to Huelva and turn right at Km 16 to San Lucar la Mayor. Turn left again on the old Sevlille to Huelva road, the A472. Turn right to Aznarcollar just after crossing the Rio Guadiamar. Imagine the river in 1998 when the dam holding back the tailings from the Los Frailes mine burst and about 6 million cubic metres of toxic waste flowed down the valley. It reached downstream of Aznarcalzar and was only prevented from entering the Donana national park by temporary dams placed to divert it into the Gualdaquivir. Click here to read more. The waste heap and the plugged gap are still easily visible to the east of the road to Aznarcollar.
The surrounding area is a scene of utter devastation.
The sludge was scraped away and placed in the worked out Aznarcollar pit
but the land immediately
surrounding the breach has still not fully recovered. It is now
an industrial estate. The road runs over the hills of the Coto Nacional de la Pata del Cabalio and passes two water dams soon after leaving Aznalcollar
There must have been much tectonic activity here. Many exposures of the sandstone have been layers distorted to near vertical
Burnt tree stumps line the road and there is a man on fire watch in the middle of nowhere.
Pass through El Alamo and Elmadrono, and across an unpolluted tributary of the Rio Tinto
As you approach Nuerva the scarred hills and slag heaps of the mining area appear. Join the A476 and by pass the town of Nuerva. Go on past working mines towards Rio Tinto. On the left of the A476 a sign points to the tourist centre from which the railway down the Rio Tinto leaves. Or stay on the road to reach the town of Rio Tinto itself. Click here. Click here to read about the mines |
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