
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In the Spanish mining town of Turon a male choir meets once a week for rehearsals. They often sing to the patron saint of miners Santa Bárbara Bendita. Since 1934 miners have been singing this beautiful song in memory of four miners killed in a mining accident in the Maria Luisa mine. Coal mining, once a major industry in Spain, has been in decline for years and in the next few years the EU's subsidies for non-profitable pits will stop altogether. For most miners the closure of pits signals the death of their communities. Natalio Cosoy travels to northern Spain to talk to the miners and their families. Will Santa Bárbara Bendita watch over them as they face an uncertain future? James Fletcher producing.
By BBC Radio 44.7
7575 ratings
In the Spanish mining town of Turon a male choir meets once a week for rehearsals. They often sing to the patron saint of miners Santa Bárbara Bendita. Since 1934 miners have been singing this beautiful song in memory of four miners killed in a mining accident in the Maria Luisa mine. Coal mining, once a major industry in Spain, has been in decline for years and in the next few years the EU's subsidies for non-profitable pits will stop altogether. For most miners the closure of pits signals the death of their communities. Natalio Cosoy travels to northern Spain to talk to the miners and their families. Will Santa Bárbara Bendita watch over them as they face an uncertain future? James Fletcher producing.

7,720 Listeners

371 Listeners

884 Listeners

1,067 Listeners

5,550 Listeners

1,793 Listeners

960 Listeners

587 Listeners

1,734 Listeners

1,020 Listeners

2,102 Listeners

1,925 Listeners

499 Listeners

109 Listeners

48 Listeners

40 Listeners

417 Listeners

732 Listeners

235 Listeners

164 Listeners

71 Listeners

3,166 Listeners

732 Listeners

1,004 Listeners