PUENTE DE OJUELA

The mines in the Ojuela Mountains were discovered at the end of the 16th century by the Spanish and have since been exploited continuously (mainly silver and lead, still mined today by 250 miners). From the main road, a dirt road takes you for two kilometres to a stop point where you can make sure you can start the climb: the paved path winding down the ravine is so narrow that you can't cross other vehicles on the way. After the five kilometres of climb, we finally reach the ghost village of Ojuela, ruins of the golden age of mineral exploitation, between 1891 and 1931, because it was after the takeover of the mines by the Peñole Company in 1891 that the site developed considerably: the bridge was built by a German engineer the following year, in iron and wood: 310 metres long and 1.80 metres wide, it was suspended above a breach 110 metres in height. Sensitive souls abstain. Those who abstain a little too much will stay to discover the ruins of the village with pleasure. Here remain essentially (on the right looking at the bridge) the opulent buildings of the company's executives, as well as the buildings of a direct industrial nature or the hospital; the workers' corrugated iron roof huts, whose district extended over the hill on the left, have disappeared with the bad weather. The latter lived in deplorable conditions, being paid only by coupons allowing them to buy groceries at the mine (raya tiendas system), the rest being counted as payment in kind (housing, health, etc.); if the management considered that they had spent more than they had earned, the debt passed to their children, who in turn were forced to work for life on the site...