Puntos de Interés
Culture
Molino de la Torre
The Molino de la Torre located near the El Jardín River, in the municipality of Balazote (Albacete), is a valuable example of industrial and hydraulic heritage. An old hydroelectric power station which once harnessed the power of the river to generate electricity, it now stands in a state of ruin.
It was fed by means of a channel or chute, which diverted part of the flow into a loading chamber from which the water fell with force to drive a turbine connected to a generator. Thanks to this system, energy was produced for local supply at a time when many villages were not yet connected to the national electricity grid.
Although it is not known exactly when it was built or when it ceased to operate, its architecture and the type of machinery preserved within suggest that it was in operation during the first half of the 20th century, coinciding with the boom in small rural hydroelectric plants that supplied the surrounding municipalities.
Today, the remains of the building - whitewashed walls, Arabic tiled roofs and metal machinery corroded by time - offer a tangible testimony to the technological and economic transformation of rural La Mancha. Surrounded by riverside vegetation and poplar groves, is has become a part of the landscape of the Nature Trail, recalling the close relationship between water, energy and local development.
