Shaun has run the Expat in Mazarrón YouTube channel since arriving in Spain in 2015. It’s all about Shaun living in Spain, where he lives on Camposol, places of interest, property, going out walking and many more things about Spain. He also set up a group called Camposol Explorers which is about going out exploring once a month in the Murcia Region and beyond.
By the time you read this, Shaun will have had his long-awaited hip operation and will be recovering. Once he is up walking again the outings will restart. In the meantime, he will continue to post some interesting locations, not far from Camposol that you can visit.
Mazarrón Mines
About a 10 minute drive from Camposol, down the RM3 to Mazarrón Town, you will see the mines which dominate the town. As you take the north turning into Mazarrón you will see on the left a small carpark with an information board. Park there and make sure you have got some good walking boots to wear!
Brief History Of The Mines:
They date back to the Bronze Age but the Romans were the most successful, between the second century BC and the second century A.D. They say there were as many as 40,000 people involved in working in the mines from Mazarron to Cartagena and most of these were slaves. After the Roman times the mines were not worked much until the mid- 19th century. Mazarron town started to get bigger with more workers living in the town. It was a very dangerous job for the ordinary miner and children were employed from 9 – 12 years old. The worst accident was in 1893 when carbon monoxide caused the death of 28 people. Every year Mazarron town remembers this day by laying flowers around the roundabout with the statue of a miner.
Throughout history of the mines, they extracted iron, lead, silver, copper, zinc and alum. By the 1960’s, the fall in price of materials and the constant flooding of the tunnels meant the mine was finally closed.
These days, the mine still attracts lots of people from locals, people from a far, photographers, artists and even movie companies film here for it’s urban, Sci-fi landscape. The mine is so big, if you wanted to cover the whole mine area, it would take you two days. I love coming here and have taken many people to see this area. When it rains for a couple of days, red pools appear from the ground giving this Mars effect.
Next month, I will show you another interesting place not far from Camposol.
For more information about Camposol Explorers, please check out my YouTube channel Camposol Explorers or join my Facebook group Expat in Mazarron for information and places to up explore.