Bustiello Mining Village Interpretation Centre

The nucleus of Bustiello embodies the business and social philosophy of the Sociedad Hullera Española, a powerful company owned by the Marquis of Comillas, inspired by French town planning and architecture, but with a deeply Catholic and Spanish character.

The company, located in a peripheral mining area with narrow valleys, monopolised local power and territorial organisation. According to this model, the company took great care of the production area and developed a paternalistic social policy through which it looked after the lives of the workers beyond the workplace: housing, supplies, education, health, leisure and culture. All of this can still be seen on the ground, hence its heritage interest, which has earned it the declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest (2017).

Bustiello is the best exponent of all this, and the Interpretation Centre (located in the former residence of the engineer) is the key to understanding it. There is only the option of a guided tour that includes not only the centre, but also the discovery of its magnificent chapel and notes from the exterior. A different and interesting vision of the industrial past for the traveller eager for cultural experiences, as it is a lesson in contemporary history and art.