On March 6-10 2023, a group of students and teacher from Salesian High School stayed in Spain at the IES San Blas Arecena school as part of the Erasmus + Forest as Natural European Heritage project. During meeting at school, students from all countries working in the project presented presentations entitled „The impact of climate change on forests”. Visiting Aracena, we learned that a specific plant formation called „DEESA” was created there. Students also took part in paddle tennis sports activities.We also visited a beautiful cave with underground lakes „Gruta de las Maravillas”. This is the first Spanish cave opened to the public in 1913. It covers a total of 2,130 underground meters. The cave is famous for its beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. During the trip we saw amazing specimens of aragonite and popcorn-like forms.The hosts took us to a 13th-century castle located on a hill in the city of Aracena. Built on the site of a former Muslim fortress. The most characteristic element of the fortress is the Mudejar style tower. In 1931, the building was declared a National Monument.
We went to the copper mine „Minas de Riotinto” where we took a trip to Mars and went back to Roman times. We took a tourist train around the Miners’ Park. There is a place of living bacteria: thermophilic Bacillus
The Mining Museum pres.ents 5,000 years of mining history. Here you can watch e.g. reproduction of a Roman mine. The exhibits include items related to mining, metallurgy and industrial archaeology.
At the end, we walked the streets of Seville, admired the Alcazar Palace, the Cathedral, Plaza de Espana and the Archives of India.
At the end, students and parents prepared refreshments at school so that we could taste the local cuisine. We spent a very interesting time there, we got to know the culture and customs of Andalusia, we made nice acquaintances.