Mines, quarries and dams

In our quest for flowers and beaches we barely scratched the surface of the industrial history that we tumbled on wherever we drove or walked.

Isabel II reservoir was the biggest Spanish hydraulic project of the 19th century, and the biggest fiasco: the dam silted up and the construction was abandoned. Driving there along a 4WD track a sign warned that the road would narrow. I love this - of all the risks this has to be minimal. Shortly afterward the road became impassably rutted. Then, at the dam itself, with no safety barriers and open access to the derelict building adjacent, the possibilities for mishap were rich. But, as our trusty tourist pamphlet proclaimed, "The wind, the birds and the water course will please your eardrums". And so they did.

Walking round the coast from Los Escullos to San José we passed a former gypsum mine...

... again with a ruined (administrative? residential?) building open to all. Built solidly, it looked misplaced in its isolated semi-arid surroundings:

A renovated fort...

... part of a series of coastal fortifications, was testimony to the threat of pirates and invasions from everyone and everything (including the English).