Abandoned villages in Segovia

Rural depopulation is always a threat for the smallest villages. Sometimes it is due to poverty, sometimes due to expropriations, and there are even some cases of supernatural tales explaining how people were forced to leave their homes. This report is dedicated to a couple of villages in the province of Segovia: San Miguel de Neguera and La Alameda.

San Miguel de Neguera

The village is located near Sebúlcor, at the edge of the Hoces del Duratón. It has a long history.
In fact, a visigothic necropolis was discovered agout half a century ago, and there were found numerous objects from that time. That means there has been a settlement in the location for more than a thousand years. Nowadays the archaeolohgical site has dissapeared.


The first document that confirms the existence of San Miguel de Neguera dates back from 1076 A.D, and the village reaches its peak in the C. 16th, when the González Sepúlveda family build a magnificent state, which since then is the most important building of the village. In the C. 18th the village had between 20 and 25 people, and other three small villages depending on San Miguel de Neguera had dissapeared. The inhabitants were day labourers, and the houses did not belong to them, neither the land they tilled. There are no reports about the recent history of the village nor the moment when it was finally abandooned.

This is the only building that preserves its roof in the village, and it is being used as a stable.

The rest of buildings are more or less in this condition: absolutely unrecognizable.

It is also worth mentioning this water mill. It is a fairly big building, but it is impossible to learn more about its history. Its ruined condition and overgrown briars make it impossible to enter the building.

This is the most striking building. Gonzáled Sepúlveda´s State. Today it is in a extremely bad condition, although an attempt has been made to keep the facade together holding it with steel beams. It is the only thing it has been done to preserve San Miguel de Neguera.

 La Alameda

La Alameda is a small village near Pedraza. Its existence is knowm to date back to the late C. 16th, and halfway  C. 20th about 50 people lived there. That was not enough to avoid depopulation, since they had no running water nor electricity.


The village is very small. There are only five buildings and only two of them are in good condition. One of the most striking features of the place is that it is secluded. It is not far from other villages, but the way to La Alameda is not too obvious. It is a little path lined with trees, away from the main road (which is a really lost road). This makes La Alameda a little place far away from our time.

Next to this  fountain we found the best preserved building of the village. The owners keep it in good condition.

The rest of buildings have been abandoned, and time has not forgiven them.

Today La Alameda has a different kind of problem. More than 10 years ago, a building company bought the ruined houses of the village and built a sewers network. In fact the way to the village has become a nightmare because that works they totally destroyed the path. The building company wants to build housing development in that privileged location, but there is one obstacle: the owners of the two well preserved houses refuse to sell them by asking outlandish prices for them. While this has kept the place as it is preventing the building of a bunch of cloned houses, this has also brought unexpected consequences. The village has not been recovered. There have been some groups of people willing to inhabit the place without altering the environment and from an ecological stance. This kind of actions has saved many other villages, and maybe they shoud be taken into account to preserve these, and the possibility of being permanently inhabited again.

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Jánovas

The history of the village of Jánovas is as sad as surprising. It is not the story of a village losing population until no one was left. It is the story of a village expropriated in order to build a reservoir, like many others, but with several differences: the reservoir was never built, the village was expropriated by brute force and all the affair dates back from 1917. Since then, all political regimes in Spain have played a role in the dissapearance of Jánovas.

Jánovas is located in the banks of the Ara river, a ravishing river of the north of Huesca, in the narrowest part of the valley. The site was suitable for hydropower generation, and the first authorization to use the Fiscal water jump was given in 1917 under Alphonse XIII´s reign. In spite of the authorization, no work was done, something that happened again in 1923 when the Government permitted the use of the Boltaña-Aínsa water jump.

In 1929, during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, Aplicaciones Industriales S.A presented a huge project to build a dam over 55 m. high in Jánovas, which would flood the villages of Jánovas, Lavelilla and Lacort, along with more facilities built following the river until Fiscal. The project was rejected, but Jánovas was again threatened by the construction of a reservoir.

Later on, in 1945 Iberduero (now Iberdrola) was authorized to execute a project in the area. The project was approved, but again nothing was done. The 28th march 1951 the government of Franco approved yet another project to use the natural resources of the Ara river between Aínsa and Fiscal. This time the project changed all that had been planned before, now allowing to build resoervoirs in Fiscal, Jánovas, Boltaña and Aínsa. This was an extremely destructive project, because it allowed to destroy all the aforementioned villages (most of them are now important touristic destinations) because the reservoirs were declared of public utility. All the villages in the area could now be expropriated. In the next year (1952), the definitive project was published, and finally works looked like starting at the site, 35 years after the first draft of the project.

The 28th december 1961 the expropriated areas were designated, nine years after the publishing of the definitive project, but although expropriations were made, there was no intention to start the works. In fact, in 1966 Iberduero was aked why the project was interrupted, and in 1971 was Iberduero itself who asked for a one year prorrogation to hand out a reasonable project. 19 years after the initial approval of the project nothing was clear but the atrocities commited by Iberduero in Jánovas since the list of expropriated areas was published. Since many neighbours refused to abandon their village, Iberduero started to dynamite the empty houses withouth any kind of protection for the rest of the neighbours, in an attept to force them out of the village. The case was taken to the Civil Governor of Huesca, who forbid the use of any kind of explosives. Anyway, Iberdrola kept demolishing houses, but now without explosives.

Iberduero found another "obstacle". The local authorities did not allow the closing of the school of Jánowas while there were children there, but Iberduero dared to demolished the upper floor of the building, where the teacher lived. This happened while the children were at school. The 4th august 1966 an Iberduero worker knocked down the door of the school and took out by force the teacher and the children who were there.

Children at school in 1965



There was also a neighbour who lived in a rented house. He had to cope with a lot of situations like being sued for leaving a cow in an empty stable after having asked for permission from the owner, because the stable was expropriated and it was Iberduero who decided what could be done, no matter there were no signs of the works starting... This neighbour also saw with his son how Iberduero devastated their fields as they were reaping them. This man was the last person who died in Jánovas. Iberduero also blocked three times the bridge over the river to make impossible for the neighbours to reach the road.

Finally, the 20th january 1984 the last family leaves Jánovas, thus dissapearing the last obstacle for Iberduero to build the reservoir. But this did not happen, because at that time neither Iberduero nor the Government had too much interest in the project.

What caused Iberduero´s disinterest was a reduction of the reservoir´s capacity ordered by the Government. Iberduero´s project in 1972 asked for a capacity of 548,5 Hm3, but another project of irrigation at the Monegros (a desert also in Aragón) in 1983 forced Iberduero to reduce the capacity of the reservoir to 350 Hm3. The budget was 19.400 million pesetas, but Iberduero considered the reduction in capacity rendered the project non profitable.

With such situation, Iberduero began to excavate a drain tunnel in 1985, but works were stopped soon after.

Years went by, and in 1993 the City Council of Fiscal allowed to change the course of the river Ara through a makeshift dam, this beingh the previous step to the construction of the main dam. The makeshift dam did not stad the force of the river when a 700 m3/s flood hit it, breaking it and causing a disaster triggering a bigger flood of over 1500 m3/s which forced to evacuate the village of Margudgued and flooded some of the villages near the river.

Since then, complaints and accusations against the reservoir become more frequent from different sources. In fact, the ombudswoman stated in 1993 the authorization for the project were out of date, but neither Iberdrola (they changed their name at that time) nor the Government were willing to make the decission of cancelling the project.

And finally the 10th december 2001 it was published the decission to stop the project because it caused too much impact to the environment, thus saving Jánovas from being swallowed by the water 84 years after the first plans to build a dam. By then the damage was done. The neighbours had to endure all kind of actions against them until all of them left the village.

Natural arch near the village

The fountain 

The church was used as a stable, hence the straw on the floor

The process of devolution of the expropriated areas started the 10th december 2008, but that created another problem. The former owners would have to pay the current price for the areas, but what they get in return were only ruins. They were forced to sell a village full of life for a ridiculous amount and now they were forced to buy it at a much higher price and ruined. Since then they ask for the devolution at a symbolic price, because the present conditions are unfair.

A project to bring Jánovas, Lacort and Lavelilla back to life has been recently approved. This includes building new houses and small hotels. A former neighbour of Jánovas wonders how would his village be today if nothing had happened, how would it be if we take as an example how Aínsa or Boltaña have changed in the last 30 years...

Anyway, even if Jánovas is alive again this story will be there, and the old neighbours will still be waiting to recover what was theirs.

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The Engaña Tunnel (South entrance)

The Engaña tunnel is one of the biggest civil engineering works during the dictatorship of Franco. It is a railway tunnel between the provinces of Cantabria and Burgos which never came into operation.

 

The tunnel is part of the Santander-Mediterranean railway (now mostly abandoned), and it is located between Vega de Pas in Cantabria and Pedrosa de Valdeporres in Burgos. It is 6.976 m. long, and it goes under the mountain pass of Estacas de Trueba. For a long time it was the longest tunnel in Spain with all its length inside the country, until the Barcelona tunnel (in the Saragossa - Barcelona railway) surpassed it. Nowadays the Engaña tunnel looks small compared to the twin Guadarrama tunnels, with over 28 Km. each. Anyway, it is remarkable the effort required to dig the Engaña tunnel, started almost seventy years ago and with very reduced resources.

The Santander - Mediterranean railway

The construction of the tunnel started with the foundation of the two villages for the workers in 1942. Those workers were political prisoners from the Spanish Civil War. The villages, located near Vega de Pas and Pedrosa de Valdeporres, had a population of 190 and 370 respectively.

The works were firstly appointed to the Ferrocarriles y Construcciones ABC company, with a deadline of 52 months. Eventually, the section between Vega de Pas and Pedrosa de Valdeporres was not (partially) completed until 1961, 19 years after being started. The works included the villages for the workers, four tunnels and three stations. All these buildings can still be seen, although some of them are in very bad condition.

Later on, in 1950, the works were transferred to another company called Pórtoles y Cía, which managed to increase the digging pace up to 10 m. a day. In that time almost no machiney was used, and sometimes dynamite was the only way to dig. This was a slow and dangerous process, and the number of deceased workers is not clear, but it is between 11 and 20. One of the biggest problems they faced were water leaks. The biggest one happened in 1956, when workers had to cope with a leak of 39.600 litres per hour. This forced to use a lot of water pumps and reduce the shift duration.

Workers digging the tunnel

 

The digging was finished in 1959, but the rails were never installed. After that, works were stopped until in Ney Year´s Day of 1985 the Government decided to abandon the project when there reamined only 63 Km to complete the Santander - Mediterranean railway. Thus, the tunnel was abandoned even before it was used. For some time, it was only used by trucks when the nearby Puerto del Escudo (pass of the shield) was blocked by the snow.

There are no certain data about the number of workers who took part in the construction of the tunnel. Some sources claim there were 400 workers (250 prisoners and 150 civilians), but others go much further, saying there were more than 9.000. What is certain is the massive pardon of 1945 ordered by Franco, which affected many political prisoners taken during the Civil War. Although prisoners were not forced to keep working in the tunnel from then on, most of them remained there.

Entrance to the workers´ village of Pedrosa de Valdeporres

The station

As we can see, it is in very bad condition and it has been used as a stable.

The village also had a church, which also served as a theater.

Houses of the workers near the tunnel

Next to the south entrance of the tunnel, there is this huge tower. It is a silo with a watchtower attached to it. Now the ladder to the top of the watchtower has dissapeared.

In forn of the tower we can see this power plant. There can be seen the transformer tower, and under the entrance gates the furnaces which powered the station.

The Santander - Mediterranean crest

The engineer´s houses

The south entrance to the tunnel

Now the tunnel is in really bad condition, because of the low quality of the materials used in its construction. In 1999 there was a collapse wich made it impossible to pass through the tunnel with a vehicle, and in 2005 there was another collapse which blocked the way almost completely. In fact it is very hard to go through the tunnel on foot. Anyway, we strongly discourage entering the tunnel, because in addition of the great risk of collapse it is always flooded since the water leaks have never stopped.

But what we do reccomend is visiting the entrance itself, which is perfectly signaled. The local authoriries have tried to recover the place, creating some trekking routes. It is also frequent seeing neighbours from the nearby villages there, enjoying a walk in this privileged landscape.

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Tierra de Campos

Our visit to Tierra de Campos (meaning land of fields) has brought us some surprises. Among small villages with adobe houses (a mix of clay, straw and water) and huge cereal fields we found some interesting abandoned places with a story to tell. In addition, the wheather was excellent, making our trip even more enjoyable.

Tierra de Campos is a region located in the north of the province of Valladolid and part of the east of Palencia, in Castile and León (Spain). It has always been dedicated to agriculture, and more precisely to grains, and it is also known for being almost flat in its entire extension. In fact, from some hills you can see many miles away. It´s also typical the adobe, present in many buildings which range from houses to factories going through dovecotes and mills. Most of the villages of the region have less than 300 inhabitants.

Our trip through Tierra de Campos

TAMARIZ DE CAMPOS

The first village we visited caught our attention with the ruined tower of the old Iglesia de San Juan (St. John´s church), built in the first years of C.14th and open to the public and in good condition until the end of the 40´s, when it was decided the church had to be dismantled and all its art pieces to be relocated somewhere else. Nowadays the oly remains we can see are the ruins of the tower, a wall and the main gate which dates from the Renaissance.

Storks flying away from the ruins of the tower

The main gate

In addition to the church, we found other ruins in the village. In this case they were the remains of some large adobe building, whose main gate we can see here.

MORAL DE LA REINA

Our next stop was Moral de la Reina, where we found the ruins of another iglesia de San Juan. This one was built in the C.15th, and was heavily rebuilt in the C.18th. Now all there remains are these ruins next to the graveyard.

CUENCA DE CAMPOS

In Cuenca de Campos we came across an abandoned monastery, but since it is a private property we could not enter.

The monastery seen from "el Conjuradero" watchtower.

VILLACRECES

Ourt final stop was the abandoned village of Villacreces. It belongs to the village of Santervás de Campos, though its best access is through Villada, a town in Palencia.

Judging from the size of the church tower, Villacreces was an important town long ago. It is known there were 160 inhabitants back in 1828, and there was even a hospital, but the village lost population steadily. In 1970 there remained only 25 inhabitants, and in 1981 the last neighbour abandoned Villacreces. From that moment on, the old neighbours visited the village from time to time, until in 1989 the Mudéjar church was dismantled by the priest of the nearby village of Arenillas de Valderaduey in order to repair his church. That marked the end for Villacreces.

One of the few brick buildings of the village

Ruins of the old hospital

Inside the tower

Since then, all the buildings deteriorated very fast, because the adobe could not resist the passing of time after the roofs collapsed. Now almost every building is practically unrecognizable, and the only well preserved building is the tower of the church, where the wooden stairs to the top and the bells (today gone) can still be seen.

And this is the end of our trip through Tierra de Campos, knowing this region has much more to offer. We appreciate all your comments, and we hope you enjoy this blog from this very first post!

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