Mining in la Manga was in an area behind la Manga Club in the towns of La Union and Mazarron in the south-eastern part of Spain which is well endowed with a wide range of minerals and indeed one of the richest regions of Europe.
This geology of la Manga was caused by the collision in prehistoric times of the African and European plates as well as volcanic action in the region. The most important economic districts are around La Union, Mazarron, Murcia, and Aguilas, Murcia. The first documented mines date from 1587. In 1688, the King of Spain gave Francisco de Leiva permission to work a silver mine at Mazarron and by1840 there were more than 200 shafts and galleries in the villaqe, Lead was also an important product of the region. During this period these lead/zinc deposits were the most productive in Spain.
In the late 19thcentury, rich iron ore deposits were discovered in the Mazarron area as well a smaller deposits of copper.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, iron mining had stopped and mining the lead-zinc deposits of Mazarron stopped in 1969. The area behind La Manga Club bears the scars of the mining history of the area. It is worth spending a day driving in the area – The sheer destructive impact on the earth is staggering and worth seeing as a piece of industrial history.
All this was of course before la Manga Club was built in the early 1980's
Our La Manga Travel Guide strongly recommends a drive across the whole area. The industrial heritage of the region is similar to the history of tin extraction in the south west of the UK but on a greater scale. Presumably the land under La Manga Club has a similar geology to this area of devastation but what a difference!
