Where to visit factories and mines in Catalonia (Industrial Tourism)

There are several trends that tourism has been experiencing in recent years, such as, for example, the interest in enjoying activities in destinations that are visited, which leads to a great offer of them in each of the places where we travel.

But there is another trend that has been going on for years, of which there is an increasingly varied offer, and that goes beyond discovering the most interesting heritage corners that the destinations have.

This trend deepens the interest in know how things are done.

An example of this is the great rise of wine tourism, an activity in which not only is searched taste the wines that the different regions offer, but also to know the secrets of making good wine.

This trend we are talking about brings together a very varied offer of activities under the name of industrial tourism, which, for example, range from visiting wineries, factories or old mines, to learning how the most interesting craft activities are carried out.

In recent years we have made numerous visits framed in the aforementioned industrial tourism, but recently we had the opportunity to take a trip through Catalonia which was focused on discovering some places of its industrial heritage.

In fact in Catalonia In recent times, great importance has been given to these tourist places, to the point that there is an organization, Xatic, which groups them together.

Here you can find information with the wide offer of industrial tourism places that you can visit in this community, which encompasses everything from old factories and industrial colonies, to mines and museums.

Industrial tourism visits in Catalonia

After living this experience, below we are going to highlight some of the places that we have had the opportunity to visit during the aforementioned trip through the surroundings of Barcelona and in the province of Tarragona.

Former Bellmunt lead mine in Priorat

If there is an industrial heritage to which tourism activity is giving a second life, it is undoubtedly the old mines.

In the Priorat wine region is the Bellmunt del Priorat mine museum.

Ancient lead mines, the extraction of this mineral dates back about 3.000 years, and in that area there were about 50 mines where manual work was carried out using small machinery.

La Mina Eugenia It was the largest, and it is the one that you can now visit on a route through said region of the province of Tarragona.

During the last era of the mining boom, the town of Bellmunt del Priorat, where he built a mining colony, once had up to 2.000 inhabitants, when currently there are barely 300.

La lead mine It consisted of 20 floors 700 meters deep and was closed in 1972.

In 2001 it was reopened for tourist visits, and since then some buildings have been rehabilitated.

Nowadays, when visiting, you first tour the museum area, where you can see information on panels, as well as characteristic objects of mining activity.

Then, along a staircase with just over a hundred steps, you descend to the tunnel on the first floor, part of which you walk through discovering curiosities about how lead extraction was carried out.

Here you have all the information, with schedules y Prices and also to visit the Bellmunt del Priorat mine museum.

National Museum of Science and Technology in Terrassa

If there is an industrial activity historically linked to the territory of Catalonia, it is, without a doubt, textiles.

And the best exponent of the textile tradition of Catalonia you have it in the city of terrace, In the province of Barcelonaa, where you will possibly arrive under the claim of visiting the Freixa Farmhouse, modernist building from the architect Lluis Muncunill.

This building was initially built to be a textile factory, but Josep Freixa decided to make it his family residence, and currently it is the headquarters of the Terrassa Tourist Office.

In your walk through the center of Terrassa you will see that said textile production tradition is maintained through large fireplaces that are still preserved and that were part of old factories that have now disappeared.

Now, where you can go deeper into it is during the visit to the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia, an example of industrial architectural work from the modernist era.

During the visit of this museum dedicated to evolution of science and technology, in its main permanent exhibition, the Textile factory, you will be able to learn how steam was generated, how thread and fabric were made, and what the daily life of the workers was like.

This museum also has other areas dedicated to interactive energy experiences already a classic car and motorcycle exhibition.

Here you have the information for visit the Museum of Science and Technology of Terrassa.

DO Montsant wine cellar Celler Masroig

Visiting wineries is another of the activities that fall within the industrial tourism, And in Catalonia There are many options you have when you have various designations of origin.

Thus, for example, if on a previous trip we visited several wineries of the denomination Priorat, on this occasion we met one of the most historic cellars of the DO Montsant, Celler Masroig, a cooperative that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century.

This denomination Montsant It has about 120 wineries, while under the DO Priorat There are about 60 wineries.

El Celler Masroig Historically it has been dedicated to the production of bulk wine, but in 1996 it began to sell wine under its own brand and in its own store installed in the winery.

It is the result of the improvement in the quality of the wines thanks to new production processes, which characterizes this entire wine region.

Here you have information for visit Celler Masroig.

Simón Coll Chocolate Factory

Another type of activity that you can do in a trip to Catalonia is visit of a chocolate factory.

Specifically, the one known as Espai Xocolata Simón Coll of the factory that this chocolate production company, with six family generations dating back to 1840, located in Sant Sadurní d´Anoia, in the province of Barcelona.

It is an hour-long visit that begins with the vision of a Audiovisual <strong>postproduction and matching</strong> immersive, very didactic and interesting, during which they explain to you what the chocolate production process.

During this very well done presentation you will be able to see what cocoa pineapples are like, and even try cocoa beans, which I can tell you have a somewhat unpleasant flavor.

You will also see the machinery of the traditional workshop and one of the current production lines.

The visit ends at chocolate shop from the factory, where I assure you it will be impossible not to fall into the temptation of buying some of the many varieties of chocolate that they produce in Simon Coll.

Here you have information about the visit of the Simón Coll chocolate factory, with schedules, prices and purchase of tickets.

Caves Vilarnau cava cellar

Of course in Catalonia you can also visit wineries dedicated to the production of cava, As is the case Caves Vilarnau.

Located in espiels, in the province of Barcelona, ​​is a very different option since it is a modern cellar founded in 2005 by the Andalusian group Gonzalez Byass.

It is especially dedicated to the production of quality cavas, with a production of three million bottles a year, of which 70 percent is exported, which is completed with a range of wines.

There you learn what the special process of making cava is like, with its initial phase of alcoholic fermentation, and the subsequent phase of carbonic fermentation inside bottles with caps.

Here you have all the information for visit Vilarnau Caves.

Mora la Nova Railway Museum

If you are a great fan of historical trains, or are simply curious about them, in Mora la Nova, In the Tarragona province, you can make an interesting visit.

This is the Railroad Museum, an initiative of an association of train enthusiasts, which is located in a surprising large train station, the axis of a line that was built between Madrid and Barcelona, ​​an alternative to the one that passes through Zaragoza.

Currently for this Mora la Nova station Six passenger trains pass daily in each direction, five on regional lines and one that goes from Madrid to Barcelona, ​​as well as freight trains.

This association managed to obtain an area to establish the aforementioned museum, for which they have restored the ancient interlocking tower in which, with the emulation of the old office of the Station boss, historical objects related to railways are displayed.

During the visit, if you go in a group, you can also take a short ride in an open car pulled by an old locomotive, and in which you will pass over an old swing bridge that has been restored, and which is managed manually to make the track changes.

Conclusion guided tours which take place only on weekends in minimum groups of 15 people, lasting between an hour and an hour and a half, depending on the interest of the visitors.

Here you have all the information on the Mora la Nova Railway Museum.

Glass Art Workshop in Sabadell

If you have ever been curious to know how the enormous stained glass windows of gothic cathedrals in Europe, now you have the chance to see it during the visit of The Art of Stained Glass.

There, the master glassmaker Joan Serra, in his small workshop Sabadell, in the province of Barcelona, ​​in a glass workshop takes us to that world of large Gothic stained glass windows, showing the technique of leaded glass.

This technique is still used today in renovation work. centuries-old stained glass and in the new stained glass windows that he makes following, in many cases, the trends of the modernism in Catalonia.

The visit to the workshop lasts about 45 minutes, and then there is a walk through various corners of Sabadell, such as the neo-gothic church of San Felix, where various aspects of this artisanal technique are delved into.

Here you have information about the visits to L´Art del Vitrall in Sabadell.

La Sitgetana craft beer factory in Sitges

There is no doubt that the craft beer It is fashionable, and if on your trips you consider that you should not miss tasting the local varieties of this type of beer, one option is to visit a factory where they are produced.

Specifically, in the tourist coastal town of Sitges you have the possibility visit La Sitgetana, where in addition to trying a wide variety of beers, you can sign up for a tour for groups in which they will show you the secrets of its preparation.

Here you have information about the guided tours of La Sitgetana.

Electric bike excursion among vineyards

Finally, we are going to propose a different and original way to visit a winery.

This is the excursion that you can do in Vilafranca del Penedes, In the Barcelona province, in which you will combine physical exercise by pedaling on a electric bicycle, and the knowledge of the Penedés wine area.

It is a tour of about two and a half hours in which, depending on the route you choose, you will cover 8 to 13 kilometers.

On this excursion along the trails that cross the vineyards around Vilafranca del Penedés You will visit one of the wineries of this designation of origin.

Here you have information about these electric bike excursions between vineyards in Penedés.