My name is Shaun and I have run the Expat in Mazarron YouTube channel since arriving in Spain in 2015. It’s all about me living in Spain, where I live, (Camposol), places of interest, property, going out walking and many more things about Spain. I’ve set up a group called Camposol Explorers which is about going out exploring once a month in the Murcia Region. At the moment there are no more places but if you still want to join I will add you to the waiting list. Please contact me on Facebook Expat in Mazarron.
Our December outing was to the Sierra Espuña to visit the snow wells.
What are Snow Wells? (Los Pozos de la Nieve in Spanish).
There are 28 wells on the Espuñas and most are in ruins, but some have been fully restored. Built between the 16th & 20th Century to store snow, they are like giant refrigerators. The local gypsies collected the snow and packed it inside the wells, turning it into ice. When the ice was needed it was packed in straw and carried by donkey or mule to the nearest towns for those wanting ice. Some went as far as Murcia City and Cartagena.
When we arrived at the car park near the radar station we set off to the Snow Wells. I forgot to mention to the explorers to wear warm clothing! Two of our members were in shorts, but we managed to find some warm clothing for them. When we got to the Snow Wells, a group was at work fully restoring two of them. The work should be finished by February 2022. We had a look around, took some photographs and headed back to the cars, which was about a 20 minute walk.
We then drove to the Sierra Espuña Visitor Centre to have a look in the museum which was very interesting. There were very helpful staff with plenty of information in Spanish and English. Also we had the use of the toilets! Not far from the car park was the scout building; an old wood cutters house and a seating area.
We then drove to the Hotel la Mariposa on the edge of the Sierra Espuña for our Christmas dinner. Everybody had plenty to eat with some taking some home as they had too much to eat. The staff were very helpful and we even got the cook out for a group photograph.
Our New Year outing in January, is to the ‘Mazarrón Guns’, which is an abandoned coastal defense battery, with amazing views looking out to sea. We will hopefully be exploring underground. Please check out this outing and past outings on my YouTube channel Expat in Mazarron and for up-to-date videos and new places to explore in 2022 go to Camposol Explorers YouTube channel.