The recent industrial history of the Escombreras Valley goes back to 1950 with the development of an important petrochemical complex which after several acquisitions by different groups would end up belonging to Repsol and a heat power plant. These premises went under several consecutive extensions, and in 1957 the Central Térmica de Hidroeléctrica Española y Butano was established.
Different industries showed interest in the Valley, and thus natural gas plant Enagas started operating at Escombreras in 1989 increasing the industrial presence. The following years were followed by the construction and start-up of other industrial plants such as Aemedsa (1995), Química del Estroncio (2000), Iberdrola (2002) or the most recent creation of Ilboc (2014) lubricants plant.
The industrial history of the Valley is marked by a constant evolution of the companies and expansion of the capacities of the different facilities of the companies. In past recent years relevant developments in infrastructures have been made, such as the improvement of the different accesses to the Valley, the expansion of the Escombreras basin or the extension of the railway line.
In the XXI century, the Escombreras Valley is seen as a modern industrial hub, strategically located in the Mediterranean while connected with the rest of the peninsula by pipelines.
Escombreras Valley is located in the municipality of Cartagena and has a total extension of2.779,91 hectares. It is located between Sierra de la Fausilla, Sierra Gorda, Gorguel and the Mediterranean Sea.
Connections:
To the North with Alumbres urban area of and the national highway Cartagena-La Union.
To the South with the border of Cuenca Hidrografica of Sierra de la Fausilla.
To the West with the Port of Escombreras and the border of Cuenca Hidrografica Sierra Gorda towards Escombreras Valley.
To the East with the border of Cuenca Hidrografica of the mining area and El Gorguel.
National Highway N343 which links Murcia-Cartagena motorway with Escombreras basin.
Road that runs along the coast linking to Escombreras basin.
From Murcia: N301 (motorway).
From Alicante: N332 (motorway).
From the Mar Menor: MU-312 (motorway).
Port of Cartagena.
Escombreras basin.
Freight railway departing from the line Murcia-Cartagena, with direct access to the goods terminal, passing through Alumbres.
San Javier Airport (33.7 kilometres via AP 7).
Alicante Airport (118.6 kilometres via A7).
Escombreras Valley weather is characterised by a buffered thermal stream, conditioned by its proximity to the sea. This provides average temperatures that exceed 17°C in the annual set and 10°C in the colder winter months. Escombreras, and all the region of Cartagena enjoy a climatology defined as subtropical Mediterranean arid.
Precipitations wise, Escombreras Valley is located within the region known as dry Iberia, being one of the longest coastal stretches exposed to the East throughout the Mediterranean, which means that it is one of the driest areas since it finds leeward of the zonal flow of the West. Rainfall hardly exceeds 300mm annually, which makes it in one of the driest areas of the country..
The geographic area of Escombreras Valley is made up by eight sectors. These divisions facilitate the planning of aspects such as environmental control and security, while serving as guidance for visitors.
SECTORS