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Assignment: A Song for Spanish Miners

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A Song for Spanish Miners

04/09/2014

BBC World Service - Assignment, A Song for Spanish Miners

Santa Bárbara Bendita - the song that helps Spain's miners face the uncertain times ahead

Natalio Cosoy meets the miners of northern Spain who sing to their patron saint Santa Bárbara Bendita, in the hope that she will watch over them in uncertain times ahead.

In the Spanish mining town of Turon a male choir meets once a week and sings to the patron saint of miners Santa Bárbara Bendita. Miners have been singing this beautiful song since 1934, 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? 

Producer: James Fletcher.


(Image: The Miners’ Choir of Turon rehearse every week in Northern Spain, a tradition which stretches back to the 1920s. BBC Copyright)

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