At the end of the 19th century, the first facilities for cities and towns were born to soon become authentic sources of tax generation
If someone thinks that turning electricity generation into a business is something relatively new, they are wrong. In fact, already in its beginnings between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, electric power generated significant income to the municipalities whose cities were illuminated by night light. The rulers of the time did not hesitate then to create the first rates and taxes for their consumption.
Electricity arrived in Murcia later than in other parts of Spain, mainly due to the lack of industrial fabric and the successive floods that occurred on the banks of the Segura River, the most important source of energy in the Region.
María Dolores Piñera has a doctorate from the University of Murcia in the History, Geography and History of Art Doctorate program: society, territory and heritage. He has elaborated his thesis around what in his day received the name of factories of the light. Many of these infrastructures were located in the vicinity of the river Segura, from Almadenes, in Cieza, to La Contraparada, in Murcia, accounting for a total of 26 in 1926. Currently, up to nine are still in operation and generating energy. However, there are others whose state is dilapidated or simply no longer exist.
The historian of the UMU María Dolores Piñera reviews in her thesis the regional development of these infrastructures
According to the researcher, these complexes were developed according to the needs of each region, and brought with them a very important increase in industrial productivity, as happened in the mining areas. This is the case of the municipality of Cartagena, where the construction of the Alhemeyer factory, which began to operate in Easter 1902, contributed to the increase in mining production in La Unión.
In his work, Piñera explains that in the case of the Vega Alta del Río Segura, the appearance of electrical energy is related not only to mining, but also to the esparto industry and the need to supply power to irrigation motors , thus increasing the irrigated crop area.
Around the river Segura
It was in 1893 when the San Rafael ice factory, in Blanca, successfully produced electrical fluid. It was owned by the mayor of the municipality, Rafael Molina. It was a textile and ice factory in which turbines and dynamos were installed that produced energy driven by the force of a waterfall that was built in this area of the Segura.
Once the energy needed to move the looms was obtained, the rest was sold to individuals, especially at night, which was when the factory’s electrical needs decreased. From that moment on, the proliferation of electric fluid businesses began throughout the Region of Murcia.
In this way, one of the most important is located in the Cañón de los Almadenes in Cieza. It is a light factory that began to be built in 1920, being inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII on February 1, 1923. It was owned by Riegos del Levante and its purpose was to provide power to the irrigation system to the Vega Baja.
Another of the existing ones in Cieza is that of ‘Salto del Progreso’, which belongs to the community of Regantes Nuevos Riegos El Progreso, being in operation since the first half of the last century.
The Menjú de Cieza factory arose from the old esparto and textile mill to which a turbine was added, beginning to function as a light factory in 1896. In this way, the electric night light arrived for the first time in some streets of Cieza . This factory was on the verge of being demolished, until it was declared a Site of Cultural Interest by the Governing Council of the Autonomous Community of the Region.
From Abarán to Blanca
Construction of the Nicolás de Abarán factory began in the 1920s at the initiative of the well-known industrialist Nicolás Gómez Tornero. The factory was remodeled in 1952.
The San Rafael de Blanca factory was created as a result of an old flour mill that, in addition, had other industries installed such as sawmill, esparto mill, textile factory, ice factory and electricity supply factory. It was the first light factory that began operating in the Region around 1893.
The Solvente factory in Ojós is located at the outlet of the so-called Solvente Strait, on the right bank of the Segura River. It was inaugurated in 1914 in order to provide lighting to the city of Murcia. It also has BIC protection.
The Golgo de Ulea and in Archena
The Golgo de Ulea factory dates back to 1915, when Joaquín Moreno, from Ulea, applied for the concession to take advantage of a waterfall almost one meter high with the intention of producing the electrical energy necessary for different industrial uses.
As for the Archena light factory, it was an old flour mill, lees and ice factory, to which a turbine was incorporated to produce electrical fluid. It began to function as such in 1900. Finally, the Algaida or Río Muerto factory in Archena was inaugurated in the first quarter of the 20th century, it belonged to Molinos del Segura.
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