Cultural Resources

Fuente Rubeos

Fuente de Rubeos is a fountain located in Alhama inside a huge stone shell built in 1915. The surrondings of this fountain, known as Rubeos, was the place chosen to set and hold the first explorers camp taking place in Sierra Espuña in July 7-15 of 1917. These camps were held during 22 years, on which hundreds of young explorers from all over the Region of Murcia and other provinces spent a pleasant summer time, and of course without ignoring the Scout mission, which was the main aim of such camps.

In its surroundings, other infrastructures were built  providing barbering and dining service to be used by the Boy Scouts, as well as Fuente Rubeos Forest House  which is still in use and makes this spot a wonderful lodging for Boy Scouts´ guests.

Currently known as Casa Forestal Fuente Rubeos (Rubeos Forest House) was built by the architect and troop vicepresident of Boy Scouts in Murcia Rafael Castillo, being a relevant building within the Rubeos camp. This espectacular  construction of a beautiful architectural style was built in 1926, simulating a swiss villa and named after La Panificadora (the bread maker). Such building meant a breakthrough for the area as significant services were located there, such as a bread machine, a kneader, a room with tiered trays for placing the bread, and public kitchens.

Masonry walls

These infrastructures located in Alhama can be found in almost all hillsides where hydrological and forest restoration works took place late in the 19^th century by the forest engineers Ricardo Codorniú, José Musso and Juan Ángel de Madariaga.

The walls are made with dry-laid edgestone and were built all along the downslope channels of the ravines aiming at both preventing water erosion and avoiding water from carrying sediments when gaining speed, and therefore weakening the strength of torrential waters and stalling material dragged by them.

The walls are varied in size, depending on the channel, its gradient, and the orientation of the downslopes; from the smallest ones in certain streams (terracing or albarrada) to the largest ones located in deep ravines (check dams) measuring tens of metres wide and over four metres high.Some of such walls like Dique de La Mezquita or El Puente del Aire, can be seen along the road running throughout Sierra Espuña, while  others can be found when walking along the signed pathways within the Park.

Huerta Espuña

It consists of several houses, an old forest nursery, an irrigation pond and a traditional orchard located in Alhama. The complex served as operations centre for the hydrological and forest restoration works that were carried out in Sierra Espuña. Behind the house, going towards the River Espuña, we find one of the main forest nurseries which had provided the engineers Ricardo Codorniú, José Musso and Juan Ángel de Madariaga with the plants needed for the retoration works since late  19^th century. These forest nurseries were places for growing plants from the earliest stages and getting them ready to be taken to the planting spots. For its part, the irrigation pond was for watering the plants and trees growing in the forest nurseries.

The bust of Ricardo Codorniú is a work of art made of stone by the sculptor José planes. It is opposite the Forest house, on a little esplanade surrounded by leafy pine trees which can be accessed easily from a wide staircase.