Pozo Santa Bárbara in Mieres offers an immersive virtual visit to the mine starting in August

From August, visitors to the Pozo Santa Bárbara in Turón (Mieres) will be able to enjoy an immersive room that recreates the experience of going down into a working mine gallery.

The project, developed in a recycled maritime container, includes a descent in the cage, the sound of the turullu, and the Turón Miners' Choir.

With a budget of €167,000 from European funds, it aims to diversify the tourist offer in the Caudal valley.

Visitors to the Pozo Santa Bárbara in Turón (Mieres) will be able to access an immersive room from August, where the experience of going down into a working mine gallery is reproduced with surround images and sounds. Those who enter the modular structure, a recycled maritime container, embark on a journey to the seventh level of the Mieres mine, with a descent in the cage and the sound of the turullu that stopped sounding to mark the shift change of the workers more than twenty years ago. A voice-over narrates the journey through one of the galleries and serves as a guide for the visitor, who feels the vibration of the pneumatic hammer or the cage on the platform from which they attend the immersive experience and hears the Turón Miners' Choir. The visit will initially be limited to eight people at a time, lasting around ten minutes.

The project was visited by the vice-president of the Principality, Gimena Llamedo, and the mayor of Mieres, Manuel Ángel Álvarez. Llamedo highlighted that this project is part of the Central Mountain tourist sustainability plan and comes to improve the offer of the Caudal valley, together with cycling tourism and the gastronomic focus at the Pozo Espinos. She described it as a way of bringing the history of these mining valleys closer and recommended the experience to tourists. The mayor explained that the idea was to offer a new experience to visitors that would allow them to learn about mining, the type of work and the heritage, for people who cannot or do not want to go down into the mine, participating in visits offered at other old shafts in the Cuencas.

For InasTour, the new immersive experience at Pozo Santa Bárbara is an example of how Asturias is revaluing its industrial heritage to attract a wider audience. This type of initiative not only enriches the region's tourist offer but also increases the appeal of municipalities such as Mieres for those seeking a place with history, culture and a growing tourist dynamic.

This is a way of bringing the history of these mining valleys closer. This experience, which is highly recommended, diversifies the existing offer.

The Caudal valley is one of the most attractive destinations and is generating more and more economic activity linked to tourism.

The launch of the immersive room at Pozo Santa Bárbara represents a significant step in the transformation of Mieres and the Caudal valley into an emerging tourist destination. By combining cutting-edge technology with historical memory, the project offers a unique experience that attracts both visitors interested in mining heritage and those seeking new forms of cultural tourism. This initiative, together with others in the region, demonstrates Asturias' ability to reinvent itself and turn its industrial past into an asset for the future.