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Crossing Continents: A Song for Spanish Miners

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A Song for Spanish Miners

04/09/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, A Song for Spanish Miners

As coal mining declines in Spain, can the miners save their culture and their communities?

Natalio Cosoy meets the miners of northern Spain who sing to their patron saint, Santa Bárbara Bendita. As the industry declines, can they save their culture and communities?

In the Spanish mining town of Turon a male choir meets once a week for rehearsals. They often sing to the patron saint of miners Santa Bárbara Bendita. Since 1934 miners have been singing this beautiful song in memory of four miners killed in a mining accident in the Maria Luisa mine. Coal mining, once a major industry in Spain, has been in decline for years and in the next few years the EU's subsidies for non-profitable pits will stop altogether. For most miners the closure of pits signals the death of their communities. Natalio Cosoy travels to northern Spain to talk to the miners and their families. Will Santa Bárbara Bendita watch over them as they face an uncertain future? James Fletcher producing.

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