V1-Chapter 5

Chapter Five The Renaissance of El Arteal

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Franco wanted an economy which was free from foreign domination. The Instituto Nacional de Industria set up a public limited company Minas De Almagrera Sociedad Anónima, or M.A.S.A. for short.

Its purpose was to resuscitate the near terminal mining industry. They drove the Santa Barbara Tunnel from virtually one end of the Sierra to the other, in order to access the mines. Some five kilometres of tunnel linked a hundred and thirty mines either directly, or via adjacent workings. So why was it all so short lived? The answer is here.

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Note: Whilst the author has tried to identify and attribute copyright holders to illustrations and photographs, she would be grateful for information about those where this has not been possible and would be glad to rectify any such omissions in future editions. She may be contacted on her site.