EuroVelo 1
Section 26 Section 28

Section 27 - Andalusia

Nerva - Valverde del Camino - 36Km

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The Section 27 of EuroVelo 1 in Andalusia, will take us through the 36 km that separate Nerva from Valverde del Camino, joining the Huelva regions of the Riotinto mining basin and the Andévalo.

We leave Nerva and, after crossing the A–476 regional road, take the paved and isolated HV–5015, which runs along the banks of the Tinto River, in the middle of an open landscape transformed by mining activity. Here we will find landmarks, such as the ruins of the old Copper Foundry or the Tourist Mining Railway, restored from the original for the use and enjoyment of visitors.

After a few kilometres, EuroVelo 1 takes us to the small town of Minas de Riotinto. We enter by the regional road and find ourselves in the centre of the town. Here, it is said to be the birthplace of Spanish soccer and the locality where the first environmental demonstration in the country was held. Without a doubt, there are many places to visit here, such as those to the Corta Atalaya, the Mining Museum or the English Quarter of Buena Vista.

Our route leaves Minas de Riotinto on a track that runs close to the regional road and leads us to the town of El Campillo, where we connect with the Greenway of Riotinto, the former route of the mining railroad that connected with San Juan del Puerto.

After about seven kilometres, EuroVelo 1 takes us to the town of Zalamea La Real, in the Andévalo region, which contains a rich monumental and urban heritage as well as some excellent examples of the best megalithic art.

After leaving Zalamea La Real, we find the village of Membrillo Alto, from which we can take a detour of about four kilometres to visit the Natural Monument Acebuche del Espinillo or continue towards another of the villages of Zalamea La Real, El Pozuelo, where the aforementioned megalithic site is located, the Dolmens of El Pozuelo.

From this point, the Green Route crosses the national road on two occasions, continuing close to the Arroyo del Buitrón until it makes a final turn towards Valverde del Camino, a town jealous of its artisan tradition of country footwear, iron and copper forging, and liquor distilleries.

Points of Interest

Heritage: 10

  • Right at the exit of Nerva, we find the most demanded experience of the Riotinto Mining Park.
    In wooden wagons reconstructed from 19th century plans, and with locomotives that are jewels of world railway heritage, you will pass through landscapes transformed by the hand of man during 150 years of mining activity, accompanying the route of the River Tinto and its unique ecosystem.

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  • The first museum in Spain devoted to the history of mining and metallurgy is located in the building that housed the hospital of the Río Tinto Company Limited (a British company that exploited the mine between 1873 and 1954).
    The Riotinto Mining Museum, interpretation centre for the Riotinto Mining Park, is run by the Río Tinto Foundation for the Study of Mining and Metallurgy, a private cultural non-profit and permanent institution, dedicated to the conservation and restoration of the Historic and Mining Heritage of the Minera de Riotinto region, as well as promoting alternative employment for the mining sector and tourism in the area.

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  • In Minas de Riotinto, the Matilde Gallardo Ethnological Visitor Centre invites you to discover a traditional workers' house in El Alto de la Mesa – a historical working class district – and one of the vegetable allotments that was occupied by a working class family during the British period.
    It boasts an exhibition area with a lot of information and many types of museum items: artistic, architectural, ethnographic, documentary, etc. The Matilde Gallardo Centre aims to present avant-garde museology.

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  • Before leaving Minas de Riotinto, we cannot fail to visit the old English neighbourhood of Bella Vista, a British "island" where the directors of the Rio Tinto Company Ltd. lived their lives seperated from the social reality of the workers.
    In this, still inhabited, residential neighbourhood we can find the social club, with its authentic snooker table and the Casa 21, where the life of a wealthy English family from the end of the 19th century is represented.

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  • Next to the English neighbourhood of Bella Vista, we find the Corta Atalaya, the largest of its kind in Europe and one of the largest on the planet, with nearly 1,200 meters in diameter and almost 400 meters deep.
    Exploited since Roman times, it was the English companies that gave it its current dimension thanks to the modern techniques of the industrial era.

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  • About two kilometres from Minas de Riotinto, on the A–461, in the village of La Dehesa, we find this small Roman necropolis where the ancient inhabitants of the city of Urium buried the remains of their loved ones.

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  • El Pozuelo, is made up of eleven tombs dating from between 3,000 and 2,500 BC  This set, of great homogeneity, stands out as one of the oldest and original prehistoric architectures in of the Atlantic oastline, unparalleled in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula.
    The Dolmens of El Pozuelo were declared a Property of Cultural Interest (BIC), with the category of archaeological zone, in June 2002.

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  • As you enter the town of Valverde del Camino, EuroVelo 1 meets this ethnographic museum that represents the passage of English companies through these lands.
    Built in 1912 as the residence of the director of the Alkali United Company, the building contains a large exhibition that covers the mining legacy present in Valverde del Camino as well as its enormous artisan tradition of footwear and metal.

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  • We cannot leave Valverde del Camino without visiting some of the different craft workshops that are dotted around this town in the Andévalo region of Huelva, jealous of its traditional craftsmanship in country footwear, leather goods, upholstery and carpentry.

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  • In the centre of this mining town, we find this 16th century church, declared a Cultural Interest Property (BIC) and that draws our attention due to constructive elements of Italian manufacture, such as its Tuscan spires, not very common in the temples of the province of Huelva.

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Nature: 2

  • The Río Tinto Protected Landscape, which includes the upper and middle sections of the river, is unique in the world, both for its chromatic beauty and its exceptional environmental and historical conditions. Around the upper course is the largest opencast mining site in Europe, which was already exploited by Tartessians and Romans.

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  • With a detour of about four kilometres, our pedaling takes us to this Natural Monument. It is a very peculiar centenary wild olive tree. It is twelve metres high and its wide trunk, with a perimeter of more than six metres, is hollow in most of its interior. These same peculiarities have motivated its inclusion in the Inventory of Trees and Unique Groves of Andalusia.

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Gastronomy and wine: 1

  • Considered the favorite drink of the miners, the “eau de vie” or "manguara", union of man (man) and wáter (water) in English, continues to be made in Zalamea La Real with a centennial recipe that has passed from parents to children thanks to the increase in production that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century when the Riotinto Mines lived their era of greatest splendour.

Shops and cycling services: 1

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Comments: Section 27

Section 27

Nerva - Valverde del Camino - 36Km: 36

  • Elevation
  • Heritage
  • Nature
  • Shops and cycling services