Turó d'en Serra and Can Palomeres mines

Turó d'en Serra and Can Palomeres mines

 

Walking along this route -of low-moderate difficulty because you have to climb the 751.3 feet of height in little distance- will bring you to discover the mining history of our town and also enjoy the wonderful views from Turó d'en Serra. During the way, you will be able to see the entrance to the old mines, located in the north side of Malgrat, but remember: entering is not allowed, it can be dangerous.

The story of the iron mines was short but interesting: from 1911 to 1914 a French company managed to extract and commercialise the mineral successfully after building a cable railway to transport it from the mountain to the sea. Ships would moor to the bollards of a platform built especially to the purpose of loading the material directly to their holds. Nowadays you can still see some testimonies of that mining activity. The most well-known and representative of them is La Pilona, the remains of the stone base that supported the aforementioned platform. However, it is not the only one: you will also find the remains of a bridge, a charging station or the railways where the waggons run. 21 cargoes took place during that period and about 270 men worked there -many of them had actually arrived in Malgrat only to work in the mines. Later, during the Spanish Civil War, the mines served as air-raid shelters.

If you walk the route at sunset, you will be able to see bats getting out of the tunnels they colonized when the mines were abandoned. Recent research shows that the location of the tunnels benefit the migration of those animals and allowed up to 19 different species of bats to be living in the same space. That is why it was included in the European network of nature protected areas Natura 2000 and is part of the western Mediterranean Eco Epidemiological Network, which assembles internationally noted institutions such as Pasteur Institute in Paris. The bats that live in the mines coexist normally with the inhabitants of Malgrat and you can see them flying over the streets in summer nights. In fact, they are great allies in controlling insects like Asian Tiger mosquitoes.

Towns: Malgrat de Mar