Gold sand

Around 1873, the Spanish government sold to a British company the legendary copper mines of Riotinto (Huelva), exploited previously by the Phoenicians and Romans. The "Riotinto Company Limited" went about installing technology like the railway train, customs like football and other sports, etc. They also managed to attain a way to combust this mineral (what they called "Gold Sand" for the way it shines in the sun), by means of so called "pyramid mounds", this practise being illegal in England because of its high level of contamination, were continuously used in Riotinto, causing the deaths and lung diseases of thousands of Spanish and Portuguese workers. All of this provoked a terrible incident in 1888, what is considered the first ecological manifestation in the world, when the Spanish government and the company opened fire on protesters, killing hundreds. The sleeve cover and design of this album PAID IN KIND – "Over Steel Rails" is based on images from this place, converted now into the "Riotinto Mining Park". I recommend the reading of the book "The heart of the earth", by Juan Cobos Wilkins, and the film of the same title, by Antonio Cuadri.

GOLD SAND

It was the land
of the gold sand
where a red wine river
flowed gently south

From this beautiful sight
"Bella Vista" cries
the wounds of the Earth
deep open-air mines

The progress came over steel rails
to get the bowels from hell
traces will prevail
like the old English way

A Presbyterian church and a hospital
Victorian houses and a school
a nobility first class club
under strict company rules

Tons of TNT
to discover the treasure
thunderous sounds
under the ground

The blue sky blackened
by the burning "teleras"
the sun's beautiful rays
turned to gray

The people rose up
encouraged by Mr. Tornet
pioneers of ecology
in spite of the threatening bayonets

Face to face with the soldiers
that aim the muzzles of the guns
to the village where they were born
and to where they’ll have to return

Eighteen eighty eight
"the year of the shots"
who gave the order?
nobody knows

It was the land
of the gold sand
where a red wine river
flowed gently south

From this beautiful sight
"Bella Vista" cries
the wounds of the Earth
deep open-air mines.