Day 73 of our journey through Europe.

After a few beautiful days at the Coto de Doñana National Park Our journey continued today in Andalusia. At the latest now it was clear to us that we would not be able to wait the days until the ferry crossing to Morocco in Portugal, but we will simply stay in Andalusia. Since the Rio Tinto was only half a day's drive away, we declared that as our new destination. But on the way there, only a few kilometres from the Doñana, was the small village of El Rocío virtually right on the side of the road. Well, to call it a normal village in that sense was perhaps not quite accurate.

El Rocío - place of pilgrimage with a western backdrop

El Rocío is located directly on the north-western edge of the Coto de Doñana and surprises the visitor with a unique setting and atmosphere. As soon as you enter the village, the sand blows across the roadway and you are presented with a completely different architectural style than you would normally expect in Andalusia. Rather, one has the impression of being in a Western Town to have arrived. The entire village was built on sand, there are no paved roads. We parked a little bit outside and together with us many visitors were already streaming towards the centre of the village. Dust was in the air, the first Horse-drawn carriages and horses with their riders trotted across the large square in front of the Ermita del Rocío, the church in the centre of the village. Here, in the heart of El Rocío, visitors, tourists and believers met. Many had dressed for the occasion. Tight riding trousers, boots and cowboy hats reinforced the impression that they had just jumped back in time. From the present, straight into the Wild West of the USA long ago. Only the cars sharing the roadway with the carriages and riders and the many coaches waiting for visitors showed us that we were still in the here and now.

But why all the Spectacle? El Rocío is a Place of pilgrimagewhich seems rather deserted most of the year. It usually has hardly more than 800 inhabitants. But people from all over the country come here for various events throughout the year. The highlight of the festivities is Pentecostwhen more than a million pilgrims come to El Rocío. Then over 100 Brotherhoods from all over Spain and abroad. They now move into the houses in the village, which remain empty for the rest of the year. On Pentecost Sunday, the faithful gather in and around the church, the Ermita. Early in the morning at sunrise, the members of the Mother Fraternity jump the cordon, perform the so-called Salto de la reja and carry the statue of the Virgin outside. The Blanca Paloma finally strides to all the other brotherhoods. Priests carried on shoulders offer prayers of thanksgiving and intercessions for the coming year. To receive a special blessing, many faithful try to touch the statue, or at least its robe, or the pedestal. The 14-day spectacle ends on the Tuesday after Pentecost, when all the brotherhoods depart again.

Of course, we did not visit at Whitsun. During the year, El Rocío is mainly visited by day tourists who are on holiday in the surrounding area. But during our visit, there happened to be a festival week and so we could at least get a small impression of what a hustle and bustle might happen here at Pentecost. A church service was being held in the Ermita, which was very different from the one at home, for example. It was loud and people were singing to happy music. On the large forecourt, various stalls were selling candles, which the visitors then lit in the chapel opposite the Ermita. .

When the service was over, a small group of singers gathered in front of the church. In unison with a few instruments, they sang a song together. Unfortunately, we could not find out what the meaning of this song was, but it sounded like a kind of thanksgiving song. This was the end of our short visit to El Rocío and we were happy about great impressions, especially when they come as a surprise. We knew nothing about the small village, its background and history beforehand.

Rio Tinto, the red river

Our journey now continued north into the interior of the country to the Rio Tinto, the red river. It is not exactly big and long, only one hundred kilometres in total, but it is unique because of its predominantly red colour. It has a mystical, surreal and, to a certain extent, not exactly healthy effect. Its colouring is caused by the Weathering from Heavy metal minerals in the ore deposits found there, whereby certain minerals are converted into sulphuric acid by bacteria. This sulphuric acid then enters the river with the precipitation, and this is how the river is coloured in various shades from rust red to blood red to violet. With a pH value of between two and three, it is acidic and, apart from the various bacteria living in the river, it is free of living organisms.

We stayed in the area around the village of Minas de Rio Tinto. Copper ores, silver, gold and other metals were mined here by the Iberians as early as 5,000 years ago. In the course of the last decades, the mines have had a chequered history and even today, mining is still profitable for the companies, depending on the market price of the metals. The landscape is deeply rugged from the Opencast mining of the surrounding mines and is not exactly inviting for a longer stay, but it is still worthwhile to pay the area a little visit. You should definitely visit the Embalse de GossánA small reservoir not far from Minas de Rio Tinto, which serves as a water supply for the mining industry. On the northern shore, directly on the road, particles have been deposited on plants over the course of many years, creating fascinating formations. Light to brown particles cling to dried seaweed. CrystalsOn dead trees, reddish-brown spots, centimetres thick, have formed. Sediments deposited. Really very fascinating and great photo motifs. Here is the link in Google Maps to the corresponding point: https://goo.gl/maps/aoTWX2toGM1FZL7p8

The museum railway on the Rio Tinto

Anyone interested in mining history can take a ride on the Museum railway through the disused Mining site book. During the winter months, the museum train also runs every first Sunday of the month with a small Steam locomotiveinstead of a normal diesel locomotive. This makes the attraction a little more special, but otherwise the ride is rather less spectacular. The promised distance of twelve kilometres according to the website only turned out to be six kilometres for our ride, i.e. once to the next station and back again. But despite all that, it was somehow quite nice to jog through the valley at walking speed, past rusting, historic steam locomotives and old wagons. Those who speak Spanish will probably get a lot of information about the history of mining from the guide, but for those of us who don't speak Spanish it was rather a pity not to get any information. But well, we were probably spoiled by the many other good guides.

Hiking along the Rio Tinto

After a lot of industry and dilapidated mines, it was now time for us again for more Nature. We drove south to the vicinity of Berrocal to one of the few places that is directly accessible by vehicle at a bridge over the river. There are few to no official hiking trails directly along the river, but here the old railway line along the river has been cut back and given way to a gravelled bicycle path, the Vía Verde Río TintoThe route leads through the Rio Tinto nature reserve. Here you can comfortably walk or cycle a few kilometres through the river valley. Always in view of the deep red-brown water of the river. If it is now late and you are looking for a quiet place to spend the night, you can either spend the night directly at the car park at the valley bridge, or you can drive up the winding country road towards Berrocal and then turn right at the next fork, after a kilometre you will reach a huge plain with a view of the valley on your right. Here we spent three nights in solitude, far away from the world of campers. Only the Civil Guard visited us one evening and asked if everything was OK. They kindly pointed out to us that it was also possible to stand in the village and that there were also possibilities for supply and disposal there. But free standing here in nature would not be a problem. We were happy about so much kindness and could sleep peacefully before we set off in the direction of Seville.

The route in this article

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