The Spanish government has declared four new mining reserves in the Sierra Morena region, across the provinces of Córdoba and Jaén. Published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, the decision forms part of the National Mining Exploration Program 2026-2030 and signals a push to revive Andalusia’s mining industry. The designated areas cover 22 mining grids. Researchers will assess them for critical raw materials, including antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, copper, nickel, silver, lead and zinc, resources considered impressive to technology industries and the energy transition. The reservations authorize research and technical assessment, not immediate extraction. The reported program involves the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC) and state mining company HUNOSA.
Andalusia is Spain’s leading mining region, with 479 active sites across 283 municipalities and turnover exceeding €1.2 billion. The new reserves have nevertheless reignited debate. Political groups and environmental organizations have raised concerns about environmental risks, particularly as plans advance to reopen the Aznalcóllar mine in Seville, closed since the 1998 tailings-dam failure. That disaster sent about 5.5 million cubic metres of toxic sludge and nearly 1.9 million cubic metres of acidic, heavy-metal-laden water into the Guadiamar river system near Doñana. IGME-CSIC and HUNOSA are due to conduct research and engineering studies over the next three years, with restoration plans to be submitted to the ministry.
The proposed Aznalcóllar reopening is separate from the Sierra Morena research reserves. Minera Los Frailes has received regional authorization for its exploitation project and restoration plan, with zinc and copper production scheduled to start in 2029. Project reporting describes an open pit measuring approximately 1,400 by 700 metres. Plans also call for treated mine water to travel through a pipeline about 30 kilometres long. The proposed discharge totals approximately 85,520 million litres over 17 years. These figures concern Aznalcóllar, not the four new exploration areas.
On 17 October 2026, thousands of people demonstrated in Seville against planned mining discharges into the Guadalquivir and called for an immediate moratorium on approvals tied to Aznalcóllar’s water-management system. Environmental groups and local authorities urged the Junta de Andalucía and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir to withhold the water permit for emptying the mine workings. As El País reported, a municipal representative recalled the 1998 disaster: “We already lived through it and suffered with the Guadiamar and the Boliden reservoir.” The dispute concerns mining’s cumulative effects on water and the permits that govern treatment and discharge. Geological research is only one part of the issue.
After the demonstration, the Ayuntamiento de Aznalcóllar authorized construction of a water-treatment plant for the reopening project. The facility is expected to take about 18 months to build, at a reported cost of €60 million. It is intended to treat mine water before discharge through the planned pipeline. The municipal construction authorization marks another implementation step, while water-related approvals remain a separate part of the regulatory process. Environmental opponents have also warned that treated water could still contain suspended heavy metals.
The concession faces a separate legal dispute over the Junta de Andalucía’s 2015 award to a consortium involving Minorbis and Grupo México. The Audiencia de Sevilla acquitted 16 defendants in December 2025 in the criminal proceedings. In September 2026, the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía revived the contentious-administrative litigation, leaving that legal issue unresolved. The history has added to the political sensitivity surrounding the reopening.
Other state-held reserves, including Aguablanca in Badajoz and Pinoso in Alicante, are also being investigated for basic minerals. The Ministry has recently reserved additional mining zones in Morille, in Salamanca and Ávila, and San Silvestre de Guzmán in Huelva for similar research. In parallel, the Andalusian regional government has launched the Red de Municipios Mineros de Andalucía, a network of 25 local entities seeking to maximize the benefits of mining activity. Its plans include better specialized training, expanded dual vocational education and a network of municipal mining experts.
Efforts are also underway to promote historical mining heritage, upgrade productive spaces and strengthen local supplier networks. Regional officials say Andalusia accounts for 90% of Spain’s metallic mining output, ranks as the EU’s second-largest copper producer, and leads Europe in gypsum production and Spain in marble production. The region is also the world’s top primary producer of strontium, supplying 99% of Europe’s needs and 43% globally. Its subsoil contains indications of 22 of the 34 raw materials the EU deems critical for the energy and digital transitions.
One of the most closely watched projects is the Orion EU Critical Minerals initiative, led by Australia’s Osmond Resources, which is exploring 288 mining units in the historic Linares-La Carolina district. Rare earth elements are being targeted as a potential economic driver for several municipalities in northern Jaén. The Sociedad Ibérica para el Estudio y Conservación de los Ecosistemas (SIECE), but, has warned of unpredictable consequences, pointing to the scale of planned mineral extraction and its potential impact on traditional agriculture and private property in towns such as Santisteban del Puerto, Aldeaquemada, Castellar and Montizón. SIECE cites the company’s claims of rutile concentrations four times the global average and projected extraction potential exceeding one billion tonnes. The group says those claims raise fears of a vast mining and hydrometallurgical corridor dependent on aggressive chemical processes.
Developments in Andalusia echo wider regional debates over resource management and local governance, including decentralization efforts in other countries. Colombia’s recent shift toward regional leadership, discussed in this analysis of Colombia’s new presidential approach, shows how local interests and environmental concerns increasingly shape national policy decisions.
Andalusia’s mining sector generates around 8,000 direct jobs and accounts for 26% of Spain’s total mining employment. The expansion reflects the strategic importance of critical minerals to Europe, alongside the continuing tension between economic development and environmental stewardship. As the government advances the new reserves and research, the outcome could affect local communities and Spain’s role in the European supply chain for impressive raw materials.
