Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Utrillas

What to see and do in Utrillas (Cuencas Mineras, Teruel): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 3 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Utrillas

Mining Heritage of the Cuencas Mineras 4.6 km

Towns near Utrillas

Spain › Aragon › Teruel › Cuencas Mineras › Utrillas

What to see and do in Utrillas

Utrillas
Village
Utrillas is the administrative capital of the Cuencas Mineras comarca, in the province of Teruel, situated at 968 metres above sea level on the northern slope of the sierra de San Just, with an extreme climate reaching up to 36 °C in summer and -15 °C in winter. It also includes Barriada Obrera del Sur and Las Parras de Martín, and has a little over 3,000 inhabitants. Already in the 11th century the exploitation of its subsoil is documented, with jet extraction in 1067. It belonged to the Kingdom of Aragon under the Knights of Santiago from 1161, and later Ferdinand II of Aragon granted it the rank of Villa Real. Within its territory are Las Facies de Utrillas, of multicoloured sands and clays, and Los Hocinos, marked by former open-cast mining. It has a theme park dedicated to mining.
Mining Park of Utrillas
Monument
A theme park that brings back the industrial mining heritage of Utrillas, with the 1903 steam locomotive 'Hulla' running along almost three kilometres of restored track.
Museum of Ciencia y Arqueología Minera de Utrillas
Monument
The Museum of Science and Mining Archaeology of Utrillas occupies the town's former mining hospital, restored to house its permanent exhibition, with original materials used in mining, models of a mining train and of the towns of the Cuencas Mineras, and samples of minerals found in the shafts. The complex has been expanded with the restoration of the facilities of the former Santa Bárbara Shaft, turned into a new museum area connected to the historic hospital by a tourist mining railway.
Mining Heritage of the Cuencas Mineras
Curiosity
A legacy of coal mining, in its lignite variety, as well as iron, gypsum, lead and salt, which gave the comarca its name and identity from the early 20th century, when the mining sector developed and became the area's economic engine throughout the century. The closure of the last mine in 2003 forced an industrial reconversion, after a loss of 15,000 inhabitants over the last hundred years. Mining activity also left infrastructure such as the historic Ferrocarril de Utrillas (Utrillas Railway), and after the closure new industries were set up, such as the Casting Ros automotive components factory, in the Montalbán industrial estate.
Festivities of Utrillas
Activity
Utrillas (Teruel) celebrates its patronal festival on 8 September, in honour of the Nativity of Our Lady. At the end of July, over a weekend, the young people's festival is added, dedicated to Saint John and to the Saints Abdon and Sennen.
The royal glass and steel factories
Historical milestone
In 1798, under the reign of Carlos III, two royal factories devoted to glass and steel were installed in the district, taking advantage of the local coal. Production was maintained until 1822, when both manufactures ceased their activity.
Mines and Railways of Utrillas
Historical milestone
The company Minas y Ferrocarriles de Utrillas (MFU) was formed in 1900 at the Casino Mercantil of Zaragoza to exploit the lignite of the Teruel comarca of the Cuencas Mineras. In 1904 the narrow-gauge railway entered service, which, at 127 kilometres, linked Utrillas with Zaragoza, remaining in service until the 1960s. With the company came workers' settlements, mine shafts and unprecedented population growth in the area: in 1976 it employed 66.7% of the miners of the Utrillas-Montalbán basin, with 1460 workers, a figure that had fallen to 150 by 1999. The company, which after the Civil War passed into the hands of Ebro, Azúcares y Alcoholes and then, in 1950, of the Catalan Figols group, ceased its mining activity in 2002.
The mining railway to Zaragoza
Historical milestone
Between 1904 and 1966 a narrow-gauge line of one hundred and twenty-seven kilometres operated linking the coal basin with Zaragoza. Part of the original rolling stock is used today on the tourist train that runs through the mining installations.
Gastronomic Map of the Cuencas Mineras
Food and drink
Comarca initiative that signposts the establishments that work with Aragonese produce: wine, cheese, honey, artisan baking and mushrooms. It is combined with thematic routes of a natural, geological, historical and mining character.