MUSEUM MILL FLOUR FACTORY

Flour mills existed from antiquity until the 20th century. With the technical innovations of the 19th century, old mills were replaced by modern flour factories. In these, heavy millstones were replaced by rollers of the so-called Austro-Hungarian system. These innovations achieved yields unattainable for traditional mills.
Large flour factories, to be profitable, needed to process large quantities of cereals from an extensive geographical area, which led to the progressive abandonment of the almost 600 small cereal mills distributed throughout the province and supplying the needs of the local population.

The heyday of these flour mills occurred in the last third of the 19th century. Many oriented their production towards export to Cuba. Later, Spain's neutrality during World War I favored strong growth in the flour sector. Afterwards, they maintained their activity thanks to state protectionism over flour production. Much of this industrial heritage was abandoned in the second half of the 20th century when a state monopoly was established over cereals and flour production. Today, throughout Spain, old abandoned and ruined flour factories can be seen. They constitute a rich heritage that deserves to be recovered and showcased as part of our most recent history.

In Salamanca, none of the flour factories that existed in the province remained in operation. Two of them, one in Alba de Tormes and another in Salamanca, have been restored and converted into museums about flour production.

The one in Salamanca, called Fábrica de Harinas El Sur, was built between 1881 and 1882 on the ruins of the Aceña del Muradal. This first factory belonged to the company Pérez Moneo y Cía. The company itself made the plans and built the factory. The initial setup milled with stones called "French" ones. However, a few years later it was modernized, transitioning from the wheel (stone) system to milling by cylinders or rollers from the Bühler company. The production capacity with the new machinery, working 24 hours, could reach 30 tons of flour per day.

When it was decided to restore the factory, it maintained the complete installation, with grain cleaning, grinding, classification machines, etc. The museum opened its doors in 2002, but today, unfortunately, it is closed to the public.

The old "El Sur Flour Mill" had two buildings, one reused as the Casino del Tormes and the other, the main one, as a museum. Next to the museum, the sluice gates that regulated the water inlet to the mill are preserved.

Its structure corresponds to the most common model of 19th-century flour mills. These mills were characterized by the use of industrial brick, an elongated rectangular floor plan, and a double-pitched roof. The building has three floors, and the large number of windows is due to the need to allow the large amount of dust generated inside to escape, which, in addition to hindering work, could cause explosions. Inside, the floors are made of wood to allow for openings through which the conduits passed between the different floors. A metal walkway runs around the outside of the building.

The machinery has been restored and features informative panels that explain each step followed in flour production. These panels allow visitors to better understand the machinery's operation and the mill's history.

Through panels and graphics, the production system and the operation of each machine exhibited here are described.

I.- First, it explains how the energy for the mill's operation was generated:

• The factory machinery was powered by hydraulic energy.
• The factory had a hydraulic turbine of about 40 horsepower.
• This turbine also generated power for the factory's own lighting.

II.- Second, the entire process of obtaining flour is described step-by-step:
1.- Wheat cleaning was carried out on the top floor of the building.
2.- The wheat fell through wooden tubes to the first floor.
3.- On the first floor, the wheat was ground in the roller mills.
4.- After being ground, it was transported to the top floor for sifting, meaning to separate the flour from its bran.
5.- The flour was ground and sifted again to obtain different grades.
6.- Finally, the flour was packaged in sacks, ready for distribution and sale.