The map in my 1998 (!!) version of Michelin Spain has an enormous area bounded by Toledo, Merida and Cordoba, totally devoid of any sites deemed as being of interest by that august publication - and Almaden lies slap in the middle! Now, to be fair, the mercury mine was still operating then - it closed around 2002 and has since been turned into the “Parque Minero de Almaden”, achieving WHS status in 2012. I don’t know if the latest version still ignores it but I can state that we found the diversion off Spain’s normal tourist route into Michelin terra incognita very well worthwhile.

In our (successful!) attempt to take in 30 new WHS on the Iberian peninsular by rent-a-car in 3 weeks we always had to take great care to try to plan around that perennial problem of visiting sites in Spain – the “Cerrado” sign!! It is all too easy to arrive too early, too late, during siesta time or on a Monday or some other closing day. We were also traveling across the change from summer to winter hours. Other reasons for closure of significant sites which we came across during our trip included – an election, a wedding and the guide hadn’t turned up. As with so many Spanish WHS, visits to Almaden are only possible on group guided tours. We were already used to arriving at “opening time”, buying a ticket and then sitting around for an inordinate period waiting until the guide considered that a large enough number of people had arrived to justify him/her spending valuable time leading a tour (which was usually in Spanish and largely incomprehensible to us anyway – and rarely was a handout of the general story line provided in alternative languages as happens in many other countries nowadays).

The Parque Minero web site has a complete page on its opening times and rules for operating/not operating group tours and states - “2 daily visits are guaranteed (first thing in the morning and the afternoon)”. A morning tour was essential to us as we planned to drive on to Guadalupe that afternoon, so it seemed that we needed to be at the ticket office by 10 am to try to get on the first visit AND hope that telephone bookings hadn’t already reached the “maximum capacity” (whatever that was)! So we left our previous overnight at Ciudad Real early (luckily, unlike most Spanish hotels it started breakfast as “early” as 7.15!) to drive the 103kms to Almaden in time for the opening at 10 am to ensure we got on what might be the morning’s only tour!

Arriving at around 9.45 we found the visitor centre already operating, bought a combined ticket for the mine and the hospital (Euros 13 + 3 less 2 for “jubilados” = 14) and were told that the first tour underground would be at 11. However, the Visitor Centre itself has some displays, and our assigned guide explained these (in limited, but perfectly acceptable for the purpose, English). Of particular note was a 3D model of the mine workings, showing both their extent in terms of depth and their compactness in terms of width and length. Within these limits could be seen the mining locations developed across 2000 years from Roman times, through the Arab period (when Almaden was named and from when the Spanish language later acquired its word for Mercury = Azogue) and into the 16th century (when the demand for Mercury in the Americas emerged following the discovery of silver there) with the use of prisoners and slaves and then through to the end of 20th C, going ever deeper as technology improved - eventually reaching 700 metres. Within this small area “The mercury deposits of Almadén (Spain) have the greatest concentration of this liquid metal on Earth. Its production since historical times has been estimated in approximately 250 000 MT of metal, which represents about one third of the total mercury used by mankind throughout history”.

A second display of interest was an artwork of liquid mercury (well encased in thick glass to prevent the escape of poisonous fumes!) above which is placed a photo of the Sculptor Alexander Calder standing alongside Picasso at the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris Exhibition of 1937, both looking at Calder’s own artwork “Mercury Fountain” created for the Exhibition as a tribute to the people of Almaden who had been besieged by Franco. (Picasso of course had “Guernica” on show on the same floor as another anti-fascist art work!). Calder’s fountain can still be seen (now also well protected) in the Fundacio Miro, Barcelona and there are several Youtube movies of it operating and showing the word “Almaden” both carved into the stone base and as Calder’s “trademark” - a kinetic “mobile”. (Calder has a connection with another WHS – his acoustic “Clouds” are in the Aula Magna at Caracas University).

When we eventually set off on our tour “proper” we were still only 2 with our guide – as far as we could make out there were no other visitors that morning (End Sept 2015). What would have happened “language wise” if some Spanish visitors had turned up I don’t know. In fact we became rather sorry for all the people working hard at the site trying to provide a good experience. OK, we were there on a quiet day at the end of the season but, we were told, the hope had been for around 100k visitors pa and they were only getting around 15k - and these figures include what are probably quite large numbers of Spanish school children for whom parts of the exhibitions were clearly devised. Several other guides were standing around with nothing much to do (we were to see them later as they came out to drive our transport back to its starting point) and there was a cafeteria empty of customers. In its later years of operation the mine was run by a Spanish governmental company, Mayasa, and, since production ended, this appeared to given a new role of estate management including developing and running the park – we got the impression that the guides etc were working on with their old Ts and Cs.from when the mines were working.

The official visit commenced in the “Mining Interpretation Centre” (converted from the Compressor building) where, as the Web site says, “indispensable prior knowledge will be given on the historical evolution of mining work”. This consisted of a series of stands explaining, via PC driven videos, the development of the mine across all those centuries and levels and the changing technology which permitted mining at greater depths and volumes, together with processing of the ore. It turned out that our prior knowledge of the acquisition and processing of mercury was hazy at best - and the filling of this undoubted gap in our understanding of one of the World’s historically important metals was a major plus point for us of the visit.

We were then issued with our hard hats and taken by lift down one of the mine shafts to “Level 1” 50 metres below, where the mine workings of the 16th and 17th centuries have been opened up and cleaned out for presentation to tourists (Ultimately the mine reached “Level 15”). Remains of a “Cinnabar” seam could still be seen and even small globules of “sweated” mercury. The workings had been hyped up a bit with the occasional area of tools an baskets where the 17th century miners had “left” them but, all in all, it was quite well done. The tunnels were lined with original bricks and we were shown the “Prisoners’ tunnel” from the gaol but one location in particular was rather special – the enormous cavern for Mule powered winches known as “El Baritel de San Andres”. 

Exit from the mine is achieved via a ride on an underground train to a side opening, followed by another trip on an ecologically sound electric cart to the overground workings! There one sees the furnaces in use at the time of closure before moving on to yet another exhibition area – the “Mercury Museum” in the old Mercury Store which concentrates on the geology, chemistry and processing of the ore. There are hands-on experiments involving mercury – strictly for the school children of course! The transport of mercury to the Americas is also described – first in leather containers (only later did standard iron flasks get designed) transported by Ox cart along the Mercury road to Seville, then to Cadiz by river and finally across the Atlantic – but even then the cargoes for Peru and Bolivia needed to cross the Isthmus and be shipped again. See this article

Outside this museum is the “jewel in the crown” in terms of the Industrial Archaeology at this site - the “Horno de Bustamante” – a, largely original, Mercury furnace from 1720 which has somehow survived (Photo). Named after one Juan Alonso de Bustamante, who brought new technology from Huancalica in Peru which utilised clay pots, each with a hole, arranged in rows. These enabled the condensed mercury vapour created by burning the crushed cinnabar to “drop out” for easy collection, fully separated from the slag and with no need for human intervention – unlike earlier methods. This raises the issue of the nature of this transboundary “dual” inscription which had originally been intended to cover 4 sites - Almaden, Idrija, Huancavelica and San Luis Potosi but “lost” the latter 2 during the run up to nomination! During our visit almost no mention was made of Idrija by the guide or any of the displays. The picture I gain is that Idrija is, historically, somewhat secondary to Almaden – it lacks Almaden’s 2000 years of mining history as mercury was only discovered there in the very late 15th C. Its ores were less rich and the volumes produced were considerably lower than those of Almaden and it was not in the lead technologically. I haven’t visited Idrija so can’t directly compare the 2. From the AB evaluation I get the feeling that a lot of emphasis is placed on Idrija’s “water control systems” (pumps and several dams!!) which were not an issue at Almaden but provide the opportunity to claim the need for both sites for “completeness”. Each includes some mining-related aspects from inside the town in addition to the mine workings themselves - but both towns receive only faint praise in terms of what remains. Whatever – ICOMOS, in its wisdom, concluded that the pair justified a serial inscription (“ICOMOS considers that the selection of the two sites in the serial nomination is justified by the comparative analysis, particularly bearing in mind the specific nature of mercury extraction in the context of general mining history, and the importance of the two sites in this field” - though I can’t say I find the argument convincing. Which leaves the other 2 sites originally identified. Our Guide at Almaden indicated that San Luis Potosi (SLP) dropped out because of the problems created by the continuation of Silver mining there whilst Huancavlica did so because of governmental problems in the area.

My review of the now "former TWHS" of SLP following a visit in 2008 indicates the thinness of Mexico’s case and also refers to the issue of ongoing mining – Mexico must have concluded that it was a no hoper and has removed it from its T List. Whilst SLP actually made it as far as a deferred nomination before dropping out I cannot find that Huancavelica has ever even been on Peru’s T List and never seems seriously to have engaged in the possibility of gaining inscription. ICOMOS regrets this -“ICOMOS considers that the Huancavelica site could indeed significantly reinforce the value of the nominated serial property, and in particular provide an important example of a mercury mine in the American context. However, it seems that the site of Huancavelica does not have the necessary degree of integrity, and no conservation and management policy is currently in place for this property.”

After the Mercury Museum, we were returned to the Visitor Centre by electric car. It was now 13.35 and it turned out that the Hospital would close at 2pm thus not leaving enough time to see it before lunch, and wouldn’t reopen until 16.30 before which we had to leave - “We normally expect visitors to stay the day” we were told!! We were given our “Hospital” ticket money back and set about a quick tour of the town whilst Spain had its lunch/siesta. I am rather amazed to note that the only photo of the entire site on the UNESCO Web site is of the floodlit Puerta de Carlos IV at Almaden (with nothing from Idrija) – hardly the site’s most important aspect – this neoclassical gate, built in 1795 "ejemplificaba con su prestancia el importante producto que se obtenía en el interior de los muros”. A series of boards around the town of Alamden show 6 elements in addition to the Parque Minero - Castillo de Retamar, Casa Academia de Minas, Puerta de Carlos IV, Real Carcel de Forzados (Old prison – which was demolished in 1969 leaving only a partial basement!), Real Hospital de Mineros, and Parque de Toros, (these cover but don’t exactly coincide with the inscribed locations as listed with UNESCO. The first 3 can be picked up quickly during a short walk from the Parque Minero but really offer very little to see – although the Arab Castillo provides a nice view over the town, mine and countryside . We only saw the hospital from the outside but gained the impression from our guide and photos of its interior that it wasn’t worth waiting 2 hours for – it is primarily yet another museum. The Real Carcel remains are nearby. The one undoubted star of these other elements is the Bull Ring. It is set at the opposite end of town from the mine but is definitely worth going to. It gained inclusion on the basis that the 24 houses which create the hexagon within which the ring operates were built in 1752 to house miners and that the rents helped pay for the hospital. A number of the houses have been turned into a hotel and we were able, during siesta time, to wander around the interior public areas and gain views of the inside of the Bull Ring with no one around!