THE MONCHI MINE; Burguillos del Cerro

     During these winter holidays, I returned to visit my friends in Burguillos del Cerro. One of the highlights of my visit was a trek to the Monchi Mines. At the invitation of Antonio Surribas, Antonio Requejo and I went along with him and his son Antonio II.

      The entrance to the mines has caved in and we had to go in through a narrow entrance. Once in there, we could see an old iron cart used to carry the iron ore. I also saw a hard hat and other tools left behind. Then, the impressive ore illuminated our surroundings once we shone the light on it. There were several passageways and we came across a couple of lonely bats resting on the stones. From what Antonio Requejo mentioned, there were colonies of them a couple of months before we visited. However, on this visit, there were only a few different species scattered about. Further along we could see indentations on the walls and even holes that were made for placement of dynamite sticks. As we walked along the passageways, there were extensions to other areas of the mine, but we did not venture in them due to safety reasons. As we came upon a large open area, there was a sort of lift that used to take the workers to different levels of the mines. What was very amazing and exciting for me to see were the different layers of minerals. In one of the areas, we could even see the formation of stalactites starting to take shape. We finally came upon a circular pit that had steps which extended upwards and was used as an emergency exit in case of a cave in. It was quite necessary in those times and very impressive. We spent about an hour at Monchi before making our way out.

     The Monchi is a magnetite mine. From what I have found out, it is one of the best mines in 

Spain due to its varied mineral and geological content; some of the most common are pyrite, hematite, calcite and sulfur among the iron.

     The mines have been around since before the Romans were in Spain. In fact, the Romans were known to have mined around the area near Jerez de los Caballeros, close to Burguillos.

     One of the interesting things I found out when I was inside the mines was that the GPS in my mobile indicated I was in Jerez de los Caballeros as we went further in. Could these have been the same mines that the Romans also excavated?

     As history tells us, the Monchi mines were in use during the 19^th century up until the late 1800’s.

Later, in the 1950’s, it became a working mine again that contributed to the population boom of Burguillos with an increase of a couple of thousand more inhabitants.

The mines finally closed in 1978.

     In the near future, the mines of Monchi are set to open as a tourist and research attraction of the city of Burguillos del Cerro.

The Museum 

      In the meantime, the city of Burguillos is inaugurating a Mining and Geological Museum dedicated to the miners. The inauguration will take place on the 30^th of January 2016 in the building where the Casa del Corregidor is located.

Minerals from Monchi

     An interesting document I found with more information on the mine, can be found here: http://extremambiente.gobex.es/files/biblioteca_digital/patrimonio_2010/Patrimonio%203.18.pdf

The document is in Spanish.

Raquel Aguilar; Houston

CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT

       

     

      The climate change summit this year, otherwise known as the Conference of Parties or COP21 that ended yesterday, was known to be a ground breaking conference with an enactment and commitment to put words into action immediately.

       Almost 200 countries' leaders were present at the summit. After two weeks of discussions, key points were written in a deal that commits all countries to cut emissions into the year 2020.

       These are the  measures in the agreement:

• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century

• To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C

• To review progress every five years

• $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment 
to further finance in the future.

     What can we do to help? We can begin or continue to develop healthy climate-friendly-habits to reduce emissions. We may also register for a newsletter to get more information or search ways on helping in our communities.

    In the meantime, our hope is that all countries will abide by this new agreement to help our earth.

R. Aguilar

EXPLORERS from EXTREMADURA

“Extremadura was my Spain…I saw about me the suspicious, dour Extremadurans, whose ancestors had conquered not cities but whole nations and continents. I felt that I had come back to my own land.”  Michener, James A. IBERIA; 1968

            In his non-fiction book of his travels through Spain, Michener’s first chapter after his introduction, is “BADAJOZ” . 

            It is obvious why he began with Extremadura based on the quote above, but it was also the fact that Michener did extensive study on explorers. And just as he did, many people still have similar views of Spanish explorers: firstly these people were courageous and made many contributions even in their struggles and voyages, but secondly, that conquistadores are remembered for their ruthless conquests of indigenous civilizations.

            It is a well-known fact that many men (and some women), came for the region of Extremadura. Extremaduran’s contribution to the age of discovery was more prevalent than others from Spain. It was through the Extremaduran generals that many of the area soldiers were recruited. The new recruits were willing to leave behind a life of poverty and hardship to seek fortunes in the new world.

            In some of our future blog posts, we will introduce, not only the most famous of the generals, but also some of the lesser known soldiers along with their contributions to history, all originating from Extremadura.

             These are a few of the extremeño explorers:

            Vasco Nuñez de Balbao and Hernando de Soto from Jerez de los Caballeros.

            Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez, Francisco de Orellana  and Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano from Trujillo.

            Leonel de Cervantes and Pedro Gallego Andrada from Burguillos del Cerro.

            Pedro Arias de Almesto and Luis de Moscoso from Zafra.

            Hernán Cortes de Monroy y Pizzaro from Medellín.

            Pedro de Alvarado, Jorge Alvarado, Diego Alvarado, and Juan de Alonso are from Badajoz.

            Hernando de Bustammante and Juan Rodriguez Suarez from Merida.

            Francisco Aguilar from Villalba.

            Garcia Aguilar from Villafranca

            Alonso Álvarez de Pineda from Aldeacentenera, Cáceres.
            Marina Ortiz de Gaete wife of Pedro de Valdivia from Zalamea de la Serena, Badajoz. Valdivia was also from Badajoz.
    
            

R. Aguilar

#EARTHTOPARIS

Dear readers,
     Since its inception in 1992, world leaders have united to find solutions in combating climate change and its affects, at their yearly conferences. Known also as COP21, the Climate Conference of 2015 will meet for the 21st time in Paris during 30th of November to 11th of December.
     This time, however, the UN hopes to have in place a legal, universal agreement on climate change for all nations.

     As you can see, Climate Change is real and will affect us in many ways. Unfortunately, one of them is losing some of our favorite foods that we now take for granted and some of us enjoy on a daily, or weekly basis.
     The high heats and extreme weather conditions are no match for the fragile food plants due to global warming. The plants will not be able to grow and produce due to the abundant contaminates and high levels of carbon dioxide that will have them overly stressed and ultimately, the plants will die.

Here a but a few of the food products that are being threatened by climate change.

Coffee: Climate changes in the tropics and central America where coffee beans grow, have seen more high temperatures. A fungus is attacking the coffee plants and inhibiting growth of the beans. Farmers are seeing a fall in production due to lost of plants. More information can be found here: "A Coffee Crop Withers




Chocolate: I love chocolate! Indeed, a lot of us do. And now that research has shown that its flavonoids and antioxidants are good for your health and heart, more people are consuming it . The problem with that is we are already seeing a decrease in production. The cacao bean tree needs a lot of water. Countries that produce these beans, such as Africa and in Latin America, are seeing an increase in heat temperatures, therefore the plants are losing more and more water, leading to a reduction of beans.


Beans: Beans are a basic staple to most Latin American countries and most of Africa. A high level of carbon dioxide and higher temperatures will not allow these legumes to flower and seed production will be impacted. This in turn will lead to less beans being produced, and therefore may lead to hunger in these countries. Beans will also not produce well if there is more water than expected.
We are already seeing many of these temperature and climate patterns this year alone.


Cherries: Cherries are my favorite fruit (apart from pomegranates). Cherries are also high in beneficial vitamins and antioxidants. Cherries require a series of many cool nights to bear fruit. If there are fewer nights, then of course, there will be produce fewer fruits. The rising temperatures also mean that the fruits need to be harvested quickly or they will rot in their trees.
I saw this happening during my visit to the Jerte Valley, in Spain this summer. Many Picota cherries were damaged because of the high temperatures therefore limiting the season to a short month instead of several.

Picota Cherries

Seafood: Rising warm waters will impact the an entire spectrum of edible seafood. Rising levels of carbon dioxide will produce a warmer and acidic ocean, which will lead many species of fish and seafood to either migrate or die off from lack of survival. These creatures may also have a tendency to be infected with parasites or bacteria that will harm humans, if eaten. Habitats of these sea creatures will also be lost.

Apart from recycling, reusing, and reducing waste, we can also let our voices be heard to the world leaders that this is the time to take action.

#EarthtoParis

R. Aguilar

Around Extremadura: Salvatierra de los Barros

Castle of Salvatierra

      Salvatierra de los Barros is a town located about 18 km north of Burguillos de Cerro. It has a population of about 1,720 (2014). It is 66 km south of the city of Badajoz and is situated among great Dehesas of cork and helm oaks.

     The town's history includes the reconquest from the Arabs by Master of the Order of Alcántara, Arias Pérez in 1229. After it was repopulated, it became a domain of the city of Badajoz. 

      In 1445 King John II, passed Salvatierra into the hands of Juan de Pacheco, Marquee of Villena. Later, the villa finally came into the Dukedom of Feria. 

      Salvatierra de los Barros has the "de los barros" surname due to the pottery that is made and well known in Extremadura.

      While I was there last winter, I visited the Artisan and Pottery Museum. A quaint museum, it has the history and explanations of how the pottery was made and types that were traditionally produced. Several decades of pottery examples can be seen, along with the process and distribution of the pottery.

 


          While strolling around the town, several pottery markers of businesses can be seen with traditional signs.
   

            Other important monuments in Salvatierra include the Franciscan Convent of Santa María de Jesus built in 1507 and the church that was later built near the convent.

VIEW from SALVATIERRA