Roofing Slate Industry in Spain: History, Geology, and Geoheritage

摘要

Spain is one of the leading producers of dimension stone and the biggest producer of roofing slate in the world. As a result, the roofing slate industry has shaped the landscape in some regions of Spain. The industry goes back to the 1500s, and over the centuries it has had its ups and downs. In the 1960s, Spain became the industry's undisputed leader, accounting for up to 90% of world production. Today, Spain's roofing slate industry continues to be the largest in the world, despite the emergence of new slate-producing countries. The intensive modern extraction methods used in mines and quarries tend to destroy the vestiges from earlier periods in the history of the industry. On the other hand, quarry work has unearthed exceptional geological structures that form part of the geoheritage of this industry. This paper describes the history and geology of the Spanish roofing slate industry and evaluates the potential geoheritage linked to this industry.