The Maravillas Cave

Introduction

The Maravillas Cave is located in Aracena (Huelva) in the south of Spain.

Geological Characteristics

The geological history of the area of the Maravillas Cave began more than 550

millions.There are at least three levels of galleries. In the lowest one, we can find some of the lakes.

The geological history of the area of the Maravillas Cave began more than 550 millions years ago, when some of the oldest rocks were

formed in the nearby mountain, now called Sierra de Aracena. The special characteristic of these

carbonate-based rocks is that they dissolve very slowly when they are in contact with water. This process called 'Karstification' is responsible for

forming the characteristic landscape of the Maravillas Cave. This cavity has a predominantly

horizontal lenght of 2.130 metres. There are at least three levels of galleries. In the lowest one we

can find some of the lakes.

Second and third level

The second level of galleries has an extraordinary abundance of formations from very diverse origins

such as the existence of impurities of copper and iron, wich gives a wide range of colours to the shapes.One of the main characteristic of this cave are the Stalactite

(a formation which starts on the ceiling and grows downwards) and Stalagmite ( which grows from the

ground upwards). In the third level there are a great number of variety of speleothems and some remarkable gours of different

sizes. At the end of this gallery, you can see the petrified remains of some plant roots.

Analysis of the economical impact of the cave

It was opened for the first time in 1914,so next year it will be its centenary.

Since its aperture it has been managed by the City Council. A significant number of employments

have been created taking advantage of the tourism developed because of the caves.

The incomings come from the sale of the tickets with an average of 150.000 visitors per year. Part

of these incomings goes to the advertising,maintenance and the development of

the area where the caves are located in.

Examples of businesses developed within the frame of the caves

There are four types of business that have grown around the caves, restaurants, hotels, pork on the

street shops and souvenir shops. These shops and restaurants offer typical

foodstuffs from this area.There are other shops that offer souvenirs from

the cave,such as postcards, t-shirts, magnets etcThere are more than four hotels in the area.

As the cave is open seven days a week, tourists are always welcome and weekends are specially

busy in the area of the cave, where sometimes we can also enjoy some flee markets.

In my humble opinion, I would like to remark that the cave it is not just a great economical source

for our town, it also provides a huge cultural impact. A good example of that is the open-air

museum, where visitors can enjoy a huge range of different sculpture expresions of contemporary

spanish artists.