History of Mining town of La Arboleda
Declared a monument in 2002, the mining town of La Arboleda is one of the most complete tangible remains of the intensive mining activity in this area. It is an evocative space, awakening in its visitors the echoes of that frenetic professional, social and radical activity of the early 20th century
A bit of history
-
At the beginning of the 20th century, the area of Meatzaldea, comprised of the towns of Trapagaran, Ortuella, Abanto-Zierbena and Muskiz became home to one of the major mining operations in Europe. Thousands of people from all around the Basque Country and the rest of Spain came here to work in these mines. To house them, towns were built in the foothills of the iron mountains. These towns include Larreineta, La Barga, La Concha, Cadegal, Gallarta and Arnabal, as well as La Arboleda, built in 1877 with a set of shanties grouped in the last grove of the area. Its attached homes were made of wood organised in irregular rows, offering better quality of life than the mining barracks where between 150 and 200 people were piled in sleeping on straw mattresses on the floor. A recreation of the old barracks can be visited at the Basque Country Mining Museum.
-
Declared a monument in 2002, the mining town of La Arboleda is one of the most complete tangible remains of the intensive mining activity in this area. It is an evocative space, awakening in its visitors the echoes of that frenetic professional, social and radical activity of the early 20th century. Today, La Arboleda is doubtlessly the most representative neighbourhood of the mining past of Bizkaia and one of the most traditional and best known landscapes in Greater Bilbao.
-
In addition to the mining town, La Arboleda offers a spectacular natural setting and views. At the end of the 19th century explosives began to be used for open-pit iron ore mining. Thus, in some areas the water-table level was reached and when this occurred, they had to pump out the water to continue working in the mine. When the mining operations ceased, the groundwater seeped through and today, the pits of the mines around La Arboleda, the Hostión, Blondis and Parkotxa pits, have become fantastic lakes around which you can take a stroll and enjoy nature.
-
The Hostión pit is located next to La Arboleda and is the largest of the three. It occupies land from the Mame, Carmen and Orconera mines. Its name comes from a Basque foreman who did not speak Spanish well and would always threaten idle miners with the poorly worded Spanish phrase “yo dar hostión” (I give big punch). The Blondis pit is in Orconera mine 5. Its name comes from the “blonde crane” installed in the 1930s to lift ore from the bottom of the mine and was replaced by an inclined plane, whose remains can be found next to the pit. The Parcocha and Unión mines were located in the Parkotxa pit, located below Barrionuevo. In the 1970s it was used to dump sludge from the iron ore treatment site in Larreineta. This is why it is brown.