Outlying districts of Puerto Lumbreras: El Esparragal
Vegetable and flower plantations occupy the fertile soil around El Esparragal and La Estación
The outlying district of El Esparragal occupies a mainly rural area to the north and east of Puerto Lumbreras, although the popularity of detached houses in the area over recent years has been partly responsible for the population rising to approximately 3,000.
The rural and agricultural nature of life in this part of Puerto Lumbreras is hinted at by the name of the district, which translates directly as “the asparagus field”, although in fact this name probably owes more to the proliferation of wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius) in the area.
The main town centre is not in La Estación, which is named thus on account of it being the location of the local railway station (click for map location). No-one alighting at “Puerto Lumbreras” should do so under the illusion that they are stepping off a train into the main town centre: in fact, the station is over 7 kilometres away from the town!
Little evidence has been found of pre-historic human habitation in the area, although it can be supposed that the fertile soil attracted settlers and there are at least remains from the Argaric culture in the second millennium BC at Cañada de Alba, in the hills of Sierra de Enmedio. Similarly, there is little sign of the presence of the Romans, although one site has been found at Aljibe de Póveda.
During the Middle Ages, both under the Moors and after the Christian Reconquista, the area continued to be occupied by agricultural smallholdings, although in the 13th century the whole of this part of the kingdom of Murcia suffered an exodus by the civilian population due to its being located so close to the frontier between the land reclaimed by Castilla and the Nazarid kingdom of Granada. This remained the case after until the expulsion of the Moors from Granada in 1492, and the trend was not really reversed in El Esparragal until the 18th century, when the “aljibes” (water deposits) which had been created by the Moors were brought back into use. Some of these deposits were in fact still used only a few years ago, despite dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
It was during the first years after the Reconquista of Murcia that the defensive tower of which the remains stand in La Estación is believed to have been built. Its purpose was to form part of a series of watchtowers which communicated with each other, probably by the use of beacons, in order to guard over the countryside of Nogalte and the main communications route which ran through it.
In the late 19th century a period of growth followed the opening of the station in 1890, and in 1958 El Esparragal was included within the boundaries of the newly formed municipality of Puerto Lumbreras after centuries as an outlying district of Lorca.
Nowadays the land continues to attract crop farming, specializing in broccoli, lettuce and cauliflowers, but there are also orange and pear trees and an important carnation-growing industry alongside non-irrigated areas of olive and almond trees. Pigs, sheep and goats are also kept, and a little light industry has emerged, mainly dealing with agricultural equipment.
The local fiestas of El Esparragal take place on and around the 8th December, and are held in honour of the Purísima Concepción, to which the local church is dedicated. The religious celebrations include a floral offering and a procession, and there are also games, competitions and, of course, plenty to eat!
(Note: for administrative purposes the municipality of Puerto Lumbreras is divided into four “pedanías”, or districts: Puerto Lumbreras itself, El Esparragal, Puerto Adentro and Cabezo de la Jara.)
Click for further information about the Puerto Lumbreras municipality
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