PR10 MTL: Rota do Minério

Distance: 15.5 km
Ascent: 180 m
Highest point:190 m
GPX file: https://pt.wikiloc.com/trilhas-trekking/pr10-mtl-rota-do-minerio-168954237

PR10 MTL: Rota do Minério was the second of two hikes we did from Mina de São Domingos, a village around 20km north of Mértola. If you’re planning to walk both in the same day as we did, add about three kilometres for the walk between the start of the two routes.

This fascinating 15km route introduces walkers to the São Domingos mining complex, which was established in the 19^th century to extract sulphur pyrite to obtain copper, although mining has taken place here since the Roman and even pre-Roman times. The São Domingos mine was the largest in Portugal up to the 1930s. The first railway in the country was built here, as was the first power station in the Alentejo. The sulphur pyrite mines eventually closed in 1967, leaving behind environmental and social challenges – mainly due to the depopulation of the area – but also an incredible industrial landscape.

PR10 MTL is definitely a walk of two halves: the first being mostly across the desolute landscape of the Alentejo where we crossed vast swathes of open land and battled with difficult-to-open wire gates.

But it is the second part of PR10 MTL which introduces the bleak industrial landscape reminiscent of a California ghost town without the houses. An industry which destroyed the natural landscape and pumped dangerous sulphur fumes into the atmosphere has left its mark.

Yet there is hope. Nearly sixty years after the mine closed, nature is slowly reclaiming the landscape that humans were so hellbent on destroying and there is an abundance of oleander bushes along later sections of the route.

Highlights

Mina de São Domingos is a fascinating place in its own right, although it has suffered from depopulation since the mine closed in the 1960s. We had a delightful stroll through Jardim e Bairro dos Ingleses, an ‘English neighbourhood’ with smallscale landscaped gardens. There is a museum, although we did not look for it on a Sunday.

The rows of whitewashed mining cottages built around the contours of the surrounding slopes reminded us of the terraced housing of the Welsh valleys. These modest properties, with no private gardens, were where the miners and their families lived for decades.

The sweeping views of the parched empty Alentejo landscape contrasted dramatically with the morning’s stroll past cattle and watering ponds. Believe me, this is the kind of landscape where mirages shimmer on the horizon.

Hiking under the Alentejo sun requires beer so it would be remiss of me not to mention our delight at finding not one but two open bars in Santana de Cambas, which we desperately needed after the steep climb to the village. Hot and exhausted we sat outside and immediately ordered two limao Calippos and three bottles of beer for … 5,90 euros.

The real star of the route, however, is the industrial landscape, which is extensive and fascinating. You’ll walk along old railway embankments and cuttings, and pass rust-coloured reservoirs (with prominent warning signs). Wandering around what remains of the old mine workings and factories felt like venturing onto a film set. It was so quiet – eerily so – and we had passed not a single soul after we left Santana de Cambas.

Verdict

If you don’t have time to walk two routes from Mina de São Domingos, then I’d recommend opting for PR10 MTL. Yes, it’s much tougher than PR4 MTL: À Volta do Montado, but the mining landscape is so memorable it’s well worth the extra effort.

There was a little bit of confusion where the route actually started and we found ourselves meandering around dilapidated mine buildings and looking down on a water-filled quarry before we eventually found an interpretation board and got going in the right direction.

To say the bleak landscape of the São Domingos river valley was weird and dusty is an understatement. Every now and then gusts of wind engulfed us in localised swirls of dust like mini tornados – then almost immediately the air was hot and still again.

If you enjoy walking through strange lunar landscapes, followed by bleak, rust-coloured industrial landscapes, then this is definitely the hike for you. My abiding memory of the PR10 MTL is that the São Domingos river valley and what came afterwards was weird and hot and dusty … and absolutely memorable.

A final thought

With hindsight, perhaps we were a little bit ambitious in terms of distance, given the temperature and the terrain. The afternoon’s hiking was really tough in places and our feet and legs were filthy by the time we’d finished. After we left the leaching area, I lost the will a bit. The two routes and the bit in the middle amounted to around 30km. My feet were aching like crazy by the time we collapsed into a bar for yet more beer. Did I enjoy the walks? Yes, I enjoyed both walks but covering that distance under the unrelenting heat of an Alentejan afternoon was seriously hard work.