Palencia mining basin

Palencia mining basin
Map of the province of Palencia, with the municipalities considered mining towns in dark color:[1]
1- Velilla del Río Carrión, 2- Guardo, 3- Santibáñez de la Peña, 4- Castrejón de la Peña, 5- Dehesa de Montejo, 6- Cervera de Pisuerga, 7- La Pernía, 8- San Cebrián de Mudá, 9- Mudá, 10- Barruelo de Santullán.
Location of the province of Palencia on the map of Spain.

The Palencia mining basin is a Spanish coal mining area located on the southern slope of the Cantabrian mountain range. It owes its name to its location, in the north of the province of Palencia, in the region of Montaña Palentina. Its main exploitations are black coal and anthracite.

Palencia's Carboniferous outcrops are located in the so-called Pisuerga-Carrión Unit, a metamorphic area that constitutes the easternmost part of the geological regions of the Cantabrian Area. They extend for about 55 km in a SW-NE direction in the north of the province.[2]

The discovery of coal in this area took place in 1838 between the towns of Orbó and Barruelo, in the eastern part of the basin, so they were the first areas to begin its exploitation.[3] Coal mining completely changed the economy and demography of the region, becoming its main economic means and facilitating the installation of infrastructures for its transport, such as La Robla Railroad and the Barruelo–Quintanilla de las Torres railway branch.

It was the country's main source of energy during the autarky of the 1950s, but from the 1960s onwards it began a period of recession when it was replaced by other hydrocarbons, and received its final blow with Spain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1986, which led to the closure of all unprofitable installations. During the nineties, all mining operations were gradually closed, until they were reduced to two underground mines in Velilla del Río Carrión and two open-pit mines in the municipalities of Guardo and Castrejón de la Peña.[4] In 2012 UMINSA announced the indefinite closure of all its mines in the province, which was carried out throughout 2014.

The influence of almost two centuries of mining activity has been very important in aspects such as the natural landscape, demography, economy, sociology and culture of the area.

  1. ^ Comisiones Obreras. "Municipios mineros y Rechar" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  2. ^ Rodríguez Fernández, L. R.; Heredia, N. La estratigrafía del Carbonífero y la estructura de la unidad del Pisuerga-Carrión. NO de España (PDF) (in Spanish). Universidade da Coruña. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2012.
  3. ^ Cuevas, Román & Llorente (2003, p. 14)
  4. ^ Narganes Quijano (2010, p. 323)