Macael now has its Mining Park: walkways and viewpoints more than 60 metres up overlooking its marble quarries
Walkways, two viewpoints and an immersive room: Macael opens its Mining Park, with an investment of almost €2 million, for exploring its marble quarries.
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Macael now has its Parque Minero (Mining Park). The new tourist attraction, which makes it possible to explore the marble quarries via suspended walkways and viewpoints, was inaugurated on the evening of last Friday, 3 July, at an event with the Andalusian regional government (Junta de Andalucía), Almería Provincial Council and Macael Town Council.
More than 60 metres above the stone
According to the Junta, which has driven the project with an investment of close to €2 million, the park includes the Escalera del Vértigo (Vertigo Staircase), two viewpoints and an immersive viewing room, and connects the quarries with the Museo del Mármol (Marble Museum) and other heritage features of the municipality.
La Comarca also specifies that the walkways and viewpoints stand more than 60 metres high, that the route takes between two and two and a half hours, and that the tour includes 3D and augmented reality reconstructions of how extraction has evolved.
Year-round tourism
During the event, the acting regional minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, argued that “Macael cannot be understood without marble” and explained that the aim is to diversify the local economy, create new opportunities and attract visitors all year round. He also recalled that in February approval was given to the Restoration Plan and the Waste Management Plan for the Macael quarries, which mobilise a guarantee of €10.7 million to reconcile mining activity with the environmental recovery of the surrounding area until 2041.
The mayor of Macael, Raúl Martínez, thanked the Junta for its support and said he was convinced that the park “will mark a turning point for inland tourism in the province of Almería”. The president of Almería Provincial Council, José Antonio García Alcaina, held up Macael as a benchmark for adventure tourism within the Costa de Almería destination and recalled the provincial institution’s support for having marble culture declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco.
An opening with a soundtrack
After the speeches, and after hearing the Banda de Música de Macael (Macael Music Band) play the concert ‘Los sonidos del mármol’, those attending toured the facilities. The day ended with a new edition of the Marble Music Fest, with Arco as headliner.
The Mining Park thus joins the Marble Museum as a gateway to the history of a town that makes its living from stone, and opens up a new avenue for industrial tourism to complement the marble industry. In Macael, stone is no longer just worked: it is also put on show from on high.
