IRON MINING IN BIZKAIA

We begin a series of publications on the history of the iron and steel industry in the Basque Country. As a starting point or introduction, we are going to dedicate this first issue to the most primary of the activities linked to iron: that of its extraction from the earth before being transformed or, in other words, to iron mining as such.

The abundance of iron ore has conditioned the economic development of our land from ancient times to the present day. It is thanks to this mineral wealth that, over the centuries, ironworks, arms, anchor and nail factories, modern blast furnaces with their thousands of employees, large-scale shipbuilding and many other subsidiary industries have been made possible.

We can therefore affirm that the characteristic industrial fabric of our land has historically been the result of the presence of iron in our soil.

Iron mining in the Basque Country up to the Industrial Revolution

"You will be aware that all the mountainous land of Biscay, most of it, is mined for iron (...).that are on top of the vein are of the strongest and strongest iron, so much so that it is called Azero because of its strength".

Nicolas Monardes: "Dialogue of the Greatness of Iron". 1575

The first archaeological evidence of iron extraction and processing in the Basque Atlantic area dates back to the Second Iron Age (5th century BC). With the arrival of the Roman Empire, mining techniques and organisation were perfected. The first written references also date from Roman times: Pliny the Elder, in the first century, speaks of a mountain made entirely of iron next to the Cantabrian Sea, probably referring to the Triano mountains, in the western part of Bizkaia. The toponym of Triano itself seems to be Roman.

There is hardly any written documentation from the medieval period, although once again, archaeology is the discipline that provides us with the most information. Recent excavations continue to provide data on the extraction of iron and its transformation, always at a local level, into simple haizeolak or mountain forges. It seems that the tools produced from Basque iron had a great reputation even in Europe.

With the generalisation of hydraulic forges, from the end of the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century, the quantities of iron extracted from our mountains increased, although still within the limits of a pre-industrial economy.

The very abundance and ease of access to the ore, as it was found on the surface, did not require the development of complex technologies. Extraction was manual, using picks, wedges and other simple tools to dig holes or small galleries. When the work became difficult in one location, it was enough to start digging in another place. The use of fire and even gunpowder is documented to help break particularly hard blocks into smaller pieces.

The ore was transported to the forges using mules or ox-drawn carts. Some of it was transported to the coast, to be shipped to other forges in the Basque Country further away, and also to Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia.

The great explosion of mining in the 19th century

As we have seen, until well into the 19th century, the techniques used to extract the ore and transport it were still very rudimentary. Another factor that hindered development on a larger scale was the protectionism characteristic of the Basque territories' foral regime, which prevented the export of unprocessed iron (thus favouring the Basque ironworks). A final limitation was the system of ownership of the mines, which was communal. This system favoured a chaotic mode of exploitation, on a very small scale and with few possibilities for technological development.

However, during the 19th century, a series of factors led to the great leap from a pre-industrial economy to an industrial one. The abolition of the foral regime after the Carlist Wars (which put an end to the limitations on the export of iron ore), the privatisation of the mines, together with an enormous demand for quality iron from Europe, as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution (mainly the English), boosted demand.

An additional factor favoured this trend: the invention of the Bessemer converter in 1855 made Biscayan iron, due to its low silica content, the most suitable for transformation and, consequently, the most highly prized in the world.

At the same time, the Basque iron and steel industry underwent enormous development, which further boosted the demand for the mineral. The first blast furnace was that of the Santa Ana de Bolueta factory (1841), followed by others in the following years. From the merger of the factories El Carmen, La Vizcaya and La Iberia, the industrial colossus Altos Hornos de Vizcaya (AHV) was created in 1902, the flagship of the Basque economy and of the whole state from its foundation until its closure in 1996.

The figures give us a precise idea of what that take-off meant. The estimated production of iron in Bizkaia is estimated at 37,000 tonnes for the year 1840. In contrast, by 1877 (one year after the last Carlist War), the production figure had risen to 1,040,000 tonnes. The highest record in history was in 1899, with a production of 6,496,000 mt.

This development manifested itself in a radical transformation on many levels: the arrival of foreign capital, large-scale mines with a large number of workers, etc. Technological innovations linked to ore transport even changed the face of the landscape: mining railways, aerial tramways, funicular railways (such as La Reineta) and ore loading bays. The territory at the service of mining activity. Even today, the image that the Bilbao Estuary offers us is the direct result of that not so distant past.

The main transformation took place, however, at the socio-occupational level. The massive arrival of immigrants from other parts of the peninsula led to a disproportionate and disorderly growth of the existing populations and even to the creation of new villages, such as La Arboleda, Gallarta or La Reineta. In these places, the new arrivals endured appalling conditions, having to live in cramped quarters in the mining companies' barracks or, in the best of cases, in private dwellings which, functioning as inns, were rented out by the room to entire families, who were given food, bedding and, at most, washing clothes. These appalling hygienic and sanitary conditions led to a high infant mortality rate and, consequently, a short general life expectancy for the entire mining population.

In this context, women supplemented the family income in different ways. It was common to offer their services for washing or sewing and, especially, to serve in wealthy houses in Bilbao, Portugalete or Las Arenas. On a higher level, it was also common for them to offer accommodation to newly arrived miners. Finally, there is evidence of their participation in the work in the mine, especially in the ore washers. This was a tougher job a priori, but with the advantage of allowing them to enjoy greater freedom in comparative terms. 

All these new realities made up the dark side of this time of dizzying change. These internal contradictions were reflected in growing labour unrest, the seed of the emergence of the workers' movement, Socialism and the first general strikes.

The years between 1876 (the end of the last Carlist War) and 1914 (the beginning of the First World War) were the true golden age of Basque mining. From then on, although with ups and downs, a slow process of exhaustion and decline in mining activity began. In 1967, the export of ore ceased, and all mining activity was focused on the needs of AHV. The last mine closed in 1993, putting an end to an activity that had been going on for more than 2,000 years in our land.