Oscar Mariné / Christian Boyer - Huelva-Spanje - Bezoek de Rio Tinto-mijnstreek - 1990s

Original tourist poster from 1996 by Oscar Mariné in collaboration with illustrator Christian Boyer. The poster is part of a large-scale project (two separate poster collections, a map and travel guides) funded by the Provincial Council for Tourism of the province of Huelva (Spain). Huelva is the westernmost province of Andalusia and is little visited. Yet this province has much to offer. The year-round climate is delightful, with mild winters. There is a great variety of landscapes and a number of nature parks.

In the north of the province of Huelva (Andalusia region), about 60 and 90 minutes’ drive from Huelva and Seville, lies Las Minas de Río Tinto, a mining enclave, said to be the largest open mine in the world. The area around the hamlet of Minas de Río Tinto is a beautifully fascinating moondesert-like landscape with many reservoirs and forests. Here, nature and the landscape were altered by human hands. The slopes have been excavated in search of iron ore, copper and silver and a large number of other mineral ores. It is an area so unique that NASA has a base there to study it.

They have a deep red color and, because of this pyrite-reddened soil, the area is known as the "Red Hill." The scale of the operations is so large that it resembles an artificial crater several kilometers wide. From the edge of the 'crater' a gigantic space opens up before you. Walls of terraced rock, studded with the unusual colors, give the impression of a natural amphitheater of gigantic proportions, which could easily be mistaken for the set of a Star Wars film.