ABOUT US
An exceptional wealth management model
Minas de Almadén, Parque Minero, is owned by the Spanish State through the Ministry of Finance, and is currently managed by the public company Minas de Almadén y Arrayanes, MAYASA, S.A., S.M.E., integrated into the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales SEPI.
SEPI is a public law entity. Its activities conform to the private legal system, although the General Budgetary Law, the Public Sector Contracts Law or the Budgetary laws are applicable to it. SEPI is attached to the Ministry of Finance, can receive contributions from the General State Budget, so its affiliated companies such as MAYASA are subject to the same control procedures as public administrations.
A stage of transformation towards a new sustainable model
In 2011, the Community Mercury Strategy came into force, ratified in the summer of 2007 by the EU Council of Environment Ministers. and by the European Parliament that established the total cessation of the production and export of mercury metal. MAYASA, for years before, had been working in various lines of business to diversify its areas of economic activity without taking into account what had been its reason for being during 500 years of modern and contemporary mine exploitation.
Since 2004, the Company began working and investing in the transformation of the Mining Park into a cultural and tourist complex dedicated to the history, science and culture of the Almadén Mines as a unique and exceptional event on an international scale. The project was based on the rehabilitation of our old mining and metallurgical facilities so that they can be visited by the public in a modern and adapted environment and, above all, understood as a space for cultural transmision, educational and tourist quality. For this, work was done on the conservation and explanation of its industrial, scientific and technological heritage, evidencing the geological wealth of the existing deposits, the evolution of the various mining and metallurgical processes throughout its history, the importance of mercury in the development history of society and the impact of the exploitation of Almadén worldwide.
The result of this first stage are achievements such as the consolidation of the Mining Park and the achievement of various prestigious recognitions such as the BIC declaration in 2007 or the essential achievement of the World Heritage declaration in 2012 by UNESCO. In addition, during this time a model of attention to the public through guided tours was consolidated and that, with the invaluable contribution of all the mine workers, was gradually converted into a cultural and tourist space recognized by all.
An area for the competitiveness of tourism and culture
Although since the changes of the 10s there was a management of tourism and culture by MAYASA, in 2021 it was decided to establish a Tourism and Culture Area that specifically integrates all aspects associated with its development and promotes different processes and changes to prepare the group for the challenges to be faced in the coming years. The area follows a business model oriented towards sustainability, we have the mission of conserving, cataloging, researching, disseminating, and educating about the heritage that our institution possesses, in addition to all this, we assume the development of quality tourist experiences, not massive and of maximum authenticity in which all the resources obtained derived from this activity are reinvested in maintenance, efficiency and cultural and tourist quality.
The area focuses on the management of three main spaces within the MAYASA properties, on the one hand, the spaces linked to World Heritage, the Mining Park, and the Museum of the Hospital de Mineros and Historical Archive of the Almadén Mines, and on the other hand the Dehesa Castilseras.
our current mission
Currently, our goal is to add value to all processes associated with cultural and natural heritage through the continuous improvement of educational, cultural, and tourist activities and experiences, improved communication with our visitors, the integration of new services, and complementarity. among themselves.
MAYASA and all its areas are committed to the development of the territory and the public and private entities that are in it, assuming our role as an institution of the utmost importance in the regional socioeconomic development.
patrimonial, competitive, sustainable and innovative criteria of the minas de almadén of the commitment to maintain a unique patrimony from the structure of a public company
Minas de Almadén y Arrayanes is a state mercantile company, a public company of private management and inserted in the State Company of Industrial Participations (SEPI). As such, MAYASA is subject to state-controlled investment and management processes.
As property of MAYASA, tangible and intangible heritage have been, since the 2000s, in a complex process, a new source of activity for the company. The development of the cultural tourism sector in the company is the result of a commitment to its conservation, dissemination and enjoyment for all.
This represents a unique model in Spain for the management of mining heritage with World Heritage accreditation in the context of a privately managed public company. The nature of our company as a State Mercantile Company, due to the legal framework, prevents us from accessing financing lines by direct subsidy for the conservation of heritage and management functionality. In such a way that all the economic yields generated with the cultural and tourist activity are fully reinvested in all the investments for the conservation, maintenance, improvement of equipment, human teams, etc., in a cycle based on our own economic capacities.
MAYASA’s Tourism and Culture Area is organized around various sets of contents that make it possible to address its enormous cultural dimension in areas of knowledge that are not stagnant and in a way that facilitates their approach. Beyond the fact of being linked to a historical, industrial, and mining heritage component, this organization has the mission of specifying a content structure that allows a significant understanding of its dimension on a local, national and global scale. The thematic axes are organized in:
MAYASA’s cultural management team carries out permanent tasks in four key areas of heritage management. On the one hand, work is being done on the legal protection of cultural heritage, accurately evaluating, and dating heritage assets in order to also be able to catalog and inventory the historical heritage. In a second group of actions, the restoration and rehabilitation of heritage is undertaken, understood as both movable elements of all kinds, documents associated with the archive or related to cultural testimonies associated with the historical processes related to the Almadén mines, and of course the conservation and maintenance of the BIC elements that make up the mining heritage, from the mine itself to the different buildings and elements associated with the built industrial heritage. The third area of work refers to the investigation on the heritage of the set of properties of Minas de Almadén and Arrayanes and the elements associated with it. Lastly, as a complementary mission to, to a great extent, give meaning to all this work, it is to establish the criteria for dissemination, exhibition and recreation based on obtaining reliable models and generating content to establish one’s own discourse.
All this description of the heritage approach and the aspects of the management of the heritage of Minas de Almadén as an advanced and competitive tourism destination-product, is completed with a list of ideas that connect cultural and tourism aspects with competitiveness, sustainability and innovation.
A heritage destination (cultural and natural) both in substance and in form. In the form, because it is built around resources of great importance and value, heritage, engineering, landscape, and practically any social manifestation. But it is also a model of heritage tourism, since it must be built mainly around qualitative rather than quantitative values, and it is aimed at a public with a medium and high level of education, without being exclusive, and permanently interested in all aspects related to territorial identity.
A thematic destination, which, according to the demand. It has a plot line of enormous value and market penetration capacity, from which the products and the entire tourism strategy will be structured.
An integrated and comprehensive destination, which, whatever the main thematic axis, has to build a much more complex product in which many other subsectors and resources of the territory, artisanal, agri-food, educational, cultural, etc., are of interest. Minas de Almadén has the mission of optimizing the organization and concerted management of the presentation and production of the advanced tertiary of the territory. On the other hand, it is an instrument for articulation and reinforcement of complementary management and production programs.
A quality destination. It is necessary to project an advanced and higher-level image, sought after by users, for whom free time and its proper use are one of the main benchmarks for quality of life. At the same time, consumers are increasingly experienced, knowledgeable and with a higher level of demand, so the product offered to them must have, from the beginning, high levels and quality standards similar to those that constitute your expectations and that attracted you to the destination.
A measurable destiny. We have a system of indicators capable of measuring the real evolution of the destination and all the instruments generated in the work process, allowing a characterization of objectives achieved through controlled monitoring that will allow the development of executive update programs and adjustments to general development programs or specific.
A specialized destination. Faced with mass tourism produced in a chain and aimed at a poorly differentiated public and with low levels of demand, in the tourism model that concerns us, a mode of production aimed at the most personalized attention possible prevails, following market trends. specialized production adapted to the wishes and expectations of consumers with cultural and educational values. In addition, this specific production model seeks to adapt as adequately as possible to the economic reality of the territory and the structure of its productive sectors.
A destination experiences and experiences. Our main selling point is to be able to make you feel an unforgettable experience based on authenticity and cultural values. To do this, we rely not only on exceptional heritage, but also on the ability to interpret it through proposals that make visitors feel and assimilate the significance of the place based on experiences that reveal its value and help make our visitors people committed to the recognition, conservation and dissemination of our destination.
A destination for innovation and technological diffusion. The entire development of the work program is oriented towards the production of its own and differential technological environment, structured to be shared and permanently reinforced with the objective of making the Almadén Mines, the Miners’ Hospital, the Historical Archive, and the Dehesa de Castilseras a benchmark for territorial development through cultural leisure.
A destination for QUALITY OF LIFE. The socioeconomic dynamics around the productive sectors involved in the context of Minas de Almadén, represent a challenge, but also a great opportunity for the future of the territory in terms of employment, professionalization and quality of life of the community. In this sense, the reformulation of professional profiles in the social sphere and the refocusing and promotion of related productive structures in the economic sphere will necessarily be part of the model. MAYASA is directly involved in the development of these processes in the territory.
Destinations for the creation and attraction of talent. The development of the destination requires the involvement of people and institutions that can contribute talent and assume the talent generated in Minas de Almadén in order to achieve a horizon of relevance and participation in the most significant forums and institutions, and with the main experts and prescribers. competitive and sustainable territorial development.
Quality at the destination*
Q for Tourist Quality of Spain.
Minas de Almadén Mining Park is currently in the process of achieving several quality seals in industrial tourism. We work for the certification with the Q of Tourist Quality of Spain, under the International UNE-ISO 13810 of Industrial Tourism that includes the quality of service, infrastructure, and equipment requirements that all guided tour services must comply with the Q Tourist Quality guarantee mark. The standard, which is international in scope, replaces and repeals the previous UNE 302001: 2012 standard for Industrial Tourism and is applicable to any type of active company that offers visits to its facilities to show visitors its production processes. It is also applicable to the service of visits to archaeological heritage through which the visitor acquires knowledge about artisanal or industrial processes that are no longer active.
SICTED. Tourist quality at destination
As part of our commitment to the destination and its quality at a regional level, we are part of the accreditation process of the Comprehensive System of Spanish Tourist Quality in Destinations, backed by the Secretary of State for Tourism (SETUR), to obtain the distinctive “Commitment to Tourist Quality “, which accredits and recognizes the effort made by the tourist services/participating services.
Memberships*
World Heritage. Mercury Heritage: Almadén and Idrija
The Almadén Mining Park includes the main Spanish assets inscribed on the World Heritage list under the name of PATRIMONIO DEL MERCURIO. ALMADEN AND IDRIJA. “The mining sites of Almadén and Idrija form a coherent whole with the associated components, conveniently illustrating all the technical, cultural and social aspects associated with the extraction of mercury. These elements are presented in a sufficient number to provide their adequate interpretation.
They are the most important places preserved in relation to this activity, both for the volume produced, for the duration throughout history, and for the richness of the testimonies provided.
In both places, the presence of underground and surface mining infrastructures, the presence of technical artifacts linked to mining extraction, with their needs (hydraulic energy, wood) and their transformation into quicksilver (furnaces), their transport and storage are authentic. “
european route of industral heritage
The ERIH network discovers the European dimension of industrialisation, offering a practical experience of our collective European history. The aim is that each ERIH site will in future offer visitors an insight into the various European links and interconnections. ERIH has the support of the framework program of the European Commission ‘Creative Europe’, which recognizes the contribution of the network to the conservation and presentation of the European industrial heritage.
the cultural park team
MAYASA has a multidisciplinary management team with experts in cultural and tourism management, as well as in the preservation of mining structures. Due to its inter-institutional relations, it relies on the collaboration of external experts.
