Lanjarón: La Fábrica y El Castillo

We thought today was going to be about walking through the Barranco del Salado looking for the remains of an ochre factory, and then continuing on to the castle that protected the approaches to the Alpujarra from Roman times on. We did indeed do those two things, but the day was really about the chance conversations we lucked into.

To begin with, as we were walking through town to the trailhead, Ned saw people wildly waving their arms in a café as we passed by. Then he realized they were waving at us. Who in Lanjarón could possibly know us well enough to be waving at us over a cup of coffee? It was Ramón and Michelle from Casa Walhalla! They were in town to do some paperwork and were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. A reunion with them was a great way to start the day!

Next came the barranco. We knew that an ochre factory had once flourished here and were determined to look for remains of it. We made our way across an old dique (dam) built for flood protection. It has completely silted up behind the dam in the hundred years since it was built, but the other side was a sheer drop. Luckily, it was easy to cross with a railing at the top. As we descended through a eucalyptus forest (also introduced for flood control), we kept peering through the undergrowth, looking for signs of the Fabrica del Ocre. We were able to spot stone foundations, stairways, an old brick wall, another graffiti covered wall, and supports for carrying water from one part of the operation to another. Everything was covered with thick growth, but we could imagine how busy this now peaceful spot must have been when Explotaciones Mineras de Granada S.A. was extracting ochre. I had no idea before today what an ocher factory was or did, but found out it’s where hydrated iron oxide (ochre), was used to prepare colors in paints. Due to the high quality and quantity of the ocher here, the factory remained open until the 1980s. The ficha notes that its closure is ”an example of the disappearance of small local industries over time, abandoned due to their low profitability and the replacement of this natural dye with others.”
Today the only sounds were the waterfalls and the birds: Cetti’s warblers, Eurasian wrens, and Eurasian blackcaps.

From low down in the barranco, it is a steep climb up to the castle. If I had been in an attacker, I would have given up long before reaching the top! Even with the rock steps available to current visitors, it was scary enough that I surrendered 9/10 of the way up. Ned made it to the top and was able to see the cistern that supplied the garrison.

While he was doing that, a young Spanish couple stopped to talk to me, and my Spanish extended just far enough to explains the basics of the extraction, washing, grinding , and sifting that had taken place in the Fábrica del Ocer. They hadn’t known anything about it and set off to see what they could find on their walk back.

Just as Ned came down and reached the spot where I was waiting, a Bulgarian couple and their friend reached us. We had a wonderfully long conversation in English and Spanish with a few words of French thrown in for good measure. They were involved with a course in lace making, and were using their free time to explore the Alpujarra. Ned has often talked to Bulgarians on his ham radio, but this was our first in-person conversation with anyone from there. We were grateful for the time they spent sharing ideas with us!

On our way back into town, we met a class of middle schoolers on a field trip to the castle. A third of the group wished us “buen día” as they passed, another third studiously ignored us, and the last third, egged on by their giggling friends, loudly shouted “hello”.

Back at our house, we met up with Marta to talk about everything from her renovation of this house to her grandmother‘s experiences during the Spanish Civil War.
We didn’t find the limestone kiln or the Bronze Age village remains near the castle, but it was a great and varied day!

.Read more