MACAEL QUARRIES

The White Marble Land

The quarries are located in the central part of the province of Almeria, on the northern edge of the Sierra de Los

Filabres, between 1,5 and 6Km. Macael Township and they occupy an area of 6.699 hectares.

The quarries are grouped very close together, forming the core of ornamental rock explotation leading the

country.

During the recent Neolithic and Chalcolithic, populations from Almanzora Valley used the white marble stones,

dragged by waterways, to make schematic small figures called "cruciform idols" or "almerienses idols", which

were deposited in collective graves. In ancient archaeological research they were considered one of the

characteristic elements of the "Almeria Culture".

The Roman began to work the quarries in Macael at a larger scale but it was in the Arabian era when there was a

continuous extraction of marble.

With the new Christian repopulation of Macael, it reemerged the activity of the marble sector. The "Apeo Book" of

Macael (1573) records that the people of that time used the marble from the mountain without restrictions. It is

considered that here it is the basis of the traditional right of citizens to freely exploit Macael marble. By means of a

complex and long process this right ended up being managed by the council.

The commissioning of the Almanzora railroad from 1895 on marked the beginning of the taking off of Macael industry

and the possibility of distributing their products to the rest of Spain and Europe.

In 1978, following the approval of the new General Regulation for the Mining Industry Plan, Macael City Council

requested the Delegation legalize the status of mining industry concessions. In 1981 the rights of the mining industry

concessions were granted to Macael City Council, remembering to renew them for periods of 30 years, renovations

that have been going on to date.