La Camocha was a coal mine in Gijón that operated between 1935 and 2008, between the parishes of Huerces and Vega. In January 1957 its miners ended a nine-day strike by negotiating through a committee of their own, outside the Sindicato Vertical, and in June 2026 the Government declared it a Lugar de Memoria Democrática.
Gijón is usually told through the sea, but it also had a coal mine. La Camocha mined coal between 1935 and 2008, between the Gijón parishes of Huerces and Vega, and in January 1957 its miners did something the dictatorship hadn't planned for: they ended a strike by negotiating through a committee of their own, outside the official union. In June 2026 the Government declared it a Lugar de Memoria Democrática (Site of Democratic Memory).
A coalfield apart
The La Camocha deposit is separate from Asturias's other coalfields and covered by Permian and Triassic material. The Felgueroso brothers drilled the first borehole in 1901; the first shaft, from 1902, was abandoned in 1904 because water was getting in. In January 1915, at the Caldones borehole, a pocket of natural gas burst out and caught fire: the flames could be seen from Gijón and it took four days to put them out, according to Wikipedia.
Shaft No. 1 was begun on 1 July 1930 and Shaft No. 2 in July 1932; the latter reached a depth of 612 metres. The first coal was sold between 30 September and 1 October 1935, and the first customer was a bakery in Gijón.
There's a story going round about the name: a vaca mocha, a cow with only one horn, in the meadow where the first borehole was drilled. The philologist Ramón d'Andrés considers it folk etymology. Also popular, and false, is the idea that the mine ran under the sea, which is repeated in the song “La mina y el mar”.
Nine days in January 1957
In January 1957 the La Camocha miners stopped work over three things: piece-rate pay, shorter shifts for those working at wet coalfaces, and suitable jobs for those with first-degree silicosis. The strike lasted nine days, and the negotiations to end it were led by a workers' committee independent of the Sindicato Vertical, the regime's single union.
That committee went back further: according to the resolution published by the Government, in 1955 and 1956 the miners had already channelled their demands through it. They won, and it became a model to copy. That's why the resolution calls it the “germen fundacional” (founding seed) of Comisiones Obreras; Wikipedia notes that there's no full consensus on that origin.
What came next wasn't easy. In 1958 a strike at several mines ended with a state of exception in Asturias and hundreds of workers sent into exile, removed from their jobs or dismissed. In the strikes of spring 1962, the La Camocha committee, with some 1,600 workers behind it, played a prominent role. And in 1977, shortly before Comisiones Obreras was legalised in April, a stoppage at La Camocha managed, for the first time in Spain, to leave the Sindicato Vertical out: Comisiones Obreras and UGT were left as the workers' only representatives.
A train for the coal
To get the coal out, an Iberian-gauge branch line was laid to Veriña station, using the trackbed of a railway that was never finished. It opened on 9 June 1949 and was officially inaugurated on 26 August, with Franco, who that same day also inaugurated the coal washing plant. It was dismantled in 1986.
The mine changed hands several times: the Felgueroso family, Banco Pastor from 1945, Minero Siderúrgica de Ponferrada from 1967 and, from 1992, a company of its own, Mina La Camocha. It closed in 2008.
A site of memory
The Secretariat of State for Democratic Memory signed the resolution on 12 June 2026 and the BOE, Spain's official gazette, published it on the 18th. The declaration provides for plaques, interpretive panels or markers, audiovisual resources and an entry with its location on the Government's website.
What you can see today
The best way to get there is on foot. The Vía Verde de La Camocha greenway follows the old mining railway that carried coal towards Veriña and the port of El Musel, and ends at the mining complex, with its headframes. Turismo Asturias puts it at 15.6 kilometres there and back from Avenida de los Campeones, in Tremañes, with easy difficulty, about a hundred metres of elevation gain and between three and five hours; it can be done on foot or by bike and at any time of year.
At the Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias, in Gijón's old Estación del Norte, is the SAF No. 1 locomotive, from 1952, which worked for some three decades at La Camocha and reached the museum in 1994; two restorations have got it running again. The museum is free and, from October to March, opens Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 to 18:30 and at weekends and on public holidays from 10:00 to 18:30; it's closed on Mondays. The steam winding engine from Shaft No. 2, from 1921, stands outside the Museo de la Minería, in El Entrego, according to Wikipedia.
Checked
Facts checked in October 2026 against: La Moncloa (Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory), elDiario.es, Wikipedia (Mina La Camocha), Turismo Asturias (Vía Verde de La Camocha and Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias) and the Complutense University of Madrid (paper on the SAF No. 1 locomotive).
Quick questions
Why was the 1957 La Camocha strike important?
Because the negotiations to end it were led by a workers' committee independent of the Sindicato Vertical. They won, it became a model to copy, and the Government's resolution calls it the founding seed of Comisiones Obreras.
How do you get to La Camocha?
On foot or by bike along the Vía Verde de La Camocha greenway, which follows the old mining railway: 15.6 kilometres there and back from Avenida de los Campeones, in Tremañes, easy difficulty and between three and five hours.
Where can you see something of the mine in Gijón?
The free Museo del Ferrocarril de Asturias holds the SAF No. 1 locomotive, from 1952, which worked for some three decades at La Camocha. From October to March it opens Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 to 18:30 and at weekends and on public holidays from 10:00 to 18:30.