Sketch of Punta Umbría Showing the Locations of "Health Lodges"

Sketch of Punta Umbría Showing the Locations of "Health Lodges."

After the British Rio Tinto Company Limited was created and bought the Minas de Riotinto mines, the company became concerned about the health risks that the mining operations posed. On the suggestion of Guillermo Sundheim, it built a complex of “casas de salud” or “health lodges” at the beach, where British employees and their families could take turns to rest. These 14 “casas de salud” were called “English lodges,” in the area known as the Health District.

Building began parallel to the estuary, along 15 hectares of land that the company had been given. These were the beginnings of what is now the town of Punta Umbría, which was officially established on April 26, 1963. The buildings were distinctly colonial in style: wooden houses on stilts with zinc hip roofs, a porticoed gallery-style facade, and access via platforms. The development of the area included other facilities, such as a mill, a tank to supply drinking water, and streetlights. There were also jetties and canoes for access to Punta Umbría, which were used to transport vacationers as well as equipment. Other leisure services, such as beach huts and tennis courts, were also provided.

From the mid-1910s, English, German, and Spanish citizens who were not employed by the company but had seen the benefits of these kinds of vacations, started to request authorization from the Ministry of Public Works to occupy plots of land along the beach in Punta Umbría. For health reasons, and with the promise of paying a fee, they constructed houses in an area known as Campo Común de Abajo (in Cartaya). When the Spanish company Explosivos Rio Tinto took control of the Rio Tinto Company Limited in 1954, they were also granted the right to buy the concession on the plots of land in Punta Umbría. Today, none of the original constructions remain, and their influence on the architectural and urban development of this unique tourist enclave on the Andalusian coast has diminished over time. Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture in Huelva