Fuente de Benito
Sierra del Oro • 30550 ABARÁN
Information
Water, history and heritage in the Rambla de Benito
In the 19th century, a mined water gallery approximately 300 metres long was excavated into the rock to collect and channel the water. Later, in the mid-20th century, the gallery was extended and the water was carried to Abarán's public fountains, where local residents collected their daily supply. Part of this system is still in use today, supplying the neighbourhoods of Macicandú and El Aguayá.
A landscape of tradition and work
The abundance of water turned this area into a small proto-industrial centre. Among its surviving remains is the Molino de Pepe Juan, an old watermill used to grind grain, whose stone millstone can still be seen.
Water was also essential to the traditional esparto grass industry, which produced baskets, containers and other implements used in agriculture and in Abarán's important fruit-export industry. The area also had a public washhouse and other services associated with the daily lives of farmers and shepherds.
Nature and historic paths
The Rambla de Benito follows the route of the Cordel de Charrara, an ancient livestock trail connecting Abarán and Ricote. The route reveals a landscape shaped by water, rock and traditional land uses.
One of its most attractive spots is El Saltaor, where water has eroded the limestone rock, creating natural pools and small waterfalls.
Fuente de Benito, a living memory of water
Today, the old facilities, paths, pools, remains of the mill, esparto factory and mined water gallery form a cultural landscape in which nature and human activity remain closely intertwined.
Visiting Fuente de Benito means, ultimately, exploring a place where water became a resource, a source of energy, a pathway and a way of life—a site that helps us understand how the people of Abarán made use of and transformed their surroundings over time.
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