A window on Andalucia

Thursday, 08 January 2009

A small crowd had gathered round our coach. A cheer erupted and then loud applause. We stepped onto the pavement - the claps stopped, puzzled looks all round.

This is what happens when you travel on the tour bus of a region’s much loved institution, in our case Huelva Football Club, based in southwest Spain.

Who knows where the tourist vehicle was, but the local team had lent us theirs for our trip, while they presumably lugged their gear on to the public bus to the training ground for a workout.

And very nice the coach was too. Then again this was not your typical Spanish holiday. We didn’t want the busy Costa del Sol or packed tours to Gaudi’s Barcelona. Maybe an exploration of the local area but no crowds - definitely no crowds. So that’s why we chose Punta Umbria. In summer, the resort is mainly popular with locals from Huelva city and Seville. By day, they relax on the long, sandy beach (part of the Costa de la Luz), go hiking in the pinewoods, cycle or watch the world go by from outdoor cafes. In the evenings, there is music and dancing on the beaches.

For more lively activities, you can venture into Huelva city - an easy bus ride away (just 15mins), yet a welcome distance if you’ve come for a break. Despite today’s predominance of Spanish visitors, it was the Brits who originally developed the town from a quiet fishing village into a beach resort back in the late nineteenth century. They worked for the local Rio Tinto Mining Company Ltd (RTCL), which N M Rothschild & Sons of London, part of Rothschild investment bank, had bought from the Spanish government.

Many of the workers lived near the mines in Bella Vista, the now uninhabited district of the Minas de Riotinto area (which you can still visit with its British-style houses and grassed tennis courts) or in Huelva city. The wealthier ones holidayed on the coast. You can learn about the history of the mines at the Museo Minero, a mining and railway museum in the Parque Minero de Riotinto. It’s worth taking an old-fashioned tourist train from a former station nearby to one of the disused sites, Cerro Colorado.

The train runs along a RTCL railway line that transported minerals to Huelva for export to Britain. While our carriage chugged away, we gazed and gasped at the dramatic rock formations and dense oak woods that formed a backdrop to the Rio Tinto river, stained yellow and red by the rich ores in the ground rather than, as commonly believed, toxic waste from the mining industry. Some of us were, admittedly, more interested in comparing the mode of transport with our own luxurious coach, but that’s another matter.

The Rio Tinto mines are thought to be the oldest in the world - legend has it that they were the mines of King Solomon in the Bible. It was tales of mineral wealth here that attracted Phoenician merchants, laying the foundations for Greek, Carthaginian and Roman invasions. The mines were then abandoned until the middle of the sixteenth century and reopened 200 years later, but they were run so inefficiently that they were sold in 1871 - to the Brits. Fortunes were reversed and the mines became one of the most important sources of copper and sulphur in the world. Or so most would have you believe. The Spanish film El Corazón de la Tierra, based on real events, tells a darker story.

Our next Brit-related stop was the Barrio de Reina Victoria in Huelva city - also known as Barrio Obrero (Workers’ District) as many of the RTCL managers lived here. The houses are very turn-of-the-century British, with dormer windows and red-tiled roofs, but current occupiers have whitewashed the walls and painted details in bright primary colours. What else to see in the provincial capital? We stumbled with excitement upon Casa Colon, initially mistaking it for the dwelling of Christopher Columbus (Colón is his Spanish name), before its more commercial origins became apparent.

This grand building, with its terracotta facade and wrought-iron balconies, was built at the end of the 19th century to host visitors interested in investing in, yes, the mining industry. It was named after Columbus, but only because it was due to be up and running before the 400th anniversary of his discovery of America, a journey he made from nearby Palos de la Frontera. It did open but failed as a hotel, was taken over by the RTCL as offices and is now a conference centre. Huelva has some pleasant pedestrian streets with decent High Street stores. New bars and restaurants are appearing, too. At Restaurante La Recala - overlooking the river and another piece of mining history (part of a disused pier) - we ate gourmet tapas, including the freshest tuna, the meatiest swordfish and the most delicious artichoke chips fried in light batter. All using plenty of olive oil - a local speciality.

The city lacks the architectural splendour of Seville, about 45 minutes’ drive away, as most of its older buildings were destroyed by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The whole region suffered as the tremors caused a tsunami and the rivers overflowed. For many years, Andalusians were too scared to live there in case disaster struck again. The area deteriorated until the Brits came with their mining ideas. There are reminders of earlier history as well - such as the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Cinta, a chapel where Columbus is said to have prayed before he took off on his voyage. And the remains of a 1st century house - little documented in the guides - which is visible through the glass floor of a fashion shop, Sfera, in the pedestrian part of town.

On the last day of our trip we stayed around our accommodation, the Hotel Barcelo, on the seafront. When a couple of us went for a walk along the beach, who should we find but the Huelva football team having a bit of a kick around? Perhaps they’d given up on hardcore training, assured that David Beckham would be joining us to give them some tips. Sadly, for everyone, he never showed up.

Laura Silverman
Round to Town News