Bacons Bridge

Puente Tocinos is a district belonging to the municipality of Murcia, an autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, in Spain.

The extension of the city of Murcia outside the limits of its district has caused it to expand into the territory of the district. In this way, the Atalayas shopping center, the leisure area of the same name as well as the Murcia Sports Palace, are administratively located in Puente Tocinos.

Basic data

Puente Tocinos is located on the left bank of the Segura, it has a population of 16,804 inhabitants (INE 2022) and an area of 5,335 km². This Murcia district is located 2.5 kilometers from the center of Murcia.

As for the political organization of the district, it belongs administratively and politically to the Murcia city council and has a municipal board as a decentralized area, where basic infrastructure is managed.

Limits

• To the west: Murcia (barrios de Vistabella and La Paz).
• To the east: Plain of Bruges
• North: Zarandona and Casillas.
• South: The Dolores and Beniajan.

Traditions

Puente Tocinos, called the Cradle of the Bethlehem, has a tradition of artisan nativity scene making, whose fame gives glory to the district and which is reflected in The House of the Bethlehem.

It also has an important festival that is celebrated every year in autumn, on the occasion of the festival of the town's patron saint: The Virgin of Our Lady of the Rosary, which consists of holding barbecues throughout the town "La Tocinada" remembering the legend of the district. Legend has it that a cart loaded with sausage collapsed on the bridge that connected Puente Tocinos with the other side of the river, which was recovered by the neighborhood and eaten together for dinner. Hence the name Puente Tocinos and the tradition of 'la tocinada'.

On the other hand, on Holy Thursday the procession of silence runs through the streets of Puente Tocinos. Currently, it has two steps and about seventy Nazarenes who dress in maroon colors. The image of the crucified man is due to the Valencian school and the image of the Virgin of Solitude by an anonymous author.

Economy

The economic structure of Puente Tocinos reflects similar parameters to the rest of the orchard districts that surround it. Agricultural activity maintained fundamental importance in the past, but is currently in sharp decline. The most important economic sectors are industrial and services, which share the largest amounts of assets.

The presence of a craft industry of nativity scenes stands out.

Agriculture

In the past, agriculture was the main economic source for the families of the Puente Tocinos orchard. A wide variety of crops proliferated there, among which mulberry plantations predominated, due to their relationship with the silk industry. Today it is in decline.

Lemon, orange and fig trees spread throughout the district, especially on the margins of the terraces and on the path to the orchards. Fig tree plantations were maintained in relation to the raising of pigs and their fattening. Potatoes, paprika peppers, corn and wheat, as well as alfalfa, were other crops that were abundant, as well as tomato plants and zucchini. With the contamination of the Segura River, the pepper plantations began to disappear, as the plants dried out easily.

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the cultivation of orchard lands ceased to be profitable. The gardener has been forced to combine the garden with other jobs, such as construction and services. Agricultural activity throughout the Huerta de Murcia has been relegated to the background and is in clear decline. With the arrival of artificial fibers in clothing, the silk industry also disappeared and with it almost all mulberry trees.

Industry

Puente Tocinos is home to the Camposol industrial estate and the factory of the textile company Liwe. From the middle of the 20th century until the end of the same century it was home to several canning factories, some as important as Cobarro Hortícola.

Services

The services sector represents, along with industry, the main economic source of the district. The trade specialized in all types of items is the most numerous. There are almost four hundred businesses on Calle Mayor alone: artisans, wineries, real estate agencies, bars, cafes, construction companies, automobiles, mechanical workshops, hardware stores, hairdressers, clothing stores, etc.

On the land of the district the Atalayas shopping center is located, one of the first built in the municipality of Murcia.

Crafts: nativity scenes

Currently, its economic weight is lower than that of the aforementioned sectors, although it cannot be ignored that the crafts of nativity scenes are a fundamental source of income for many families in Puente Tocinos. This district is popularly known by the nickname Cuna del Belén.

Its first artisan was D. Antonio Galán Rex, who settled in the workshop of the 'Italian Uncle' in 1930. This activity has been flourishing and achieving notable importance since then.

Nature

Puente Tocinos is located in the heart of the Huerta de Murcia, very close to the capital's core.

This location gives it the duality of the orchard and the urban, the latter being the one that gains space year after year to the detriment of the orchard, which is absorbed by the spectacular growth experienced by the metropolitan area of Murcia and Murcia itself. district of Puente Tocinos.

Despite this, the landscape of Puente Tocinos still has large areas of agricultural cultivation in which fruit and stone trees proliferate, as well as vegetable crops: a true oasis of greenery in a strongly urbanized.

• Ecosystems:

Puente Tocinos is located on the left bank of the Segura River, occupying the central area of the Huerta de Murcia.

It is a very urbanized space but where you can still see large plots of orchards, with fruit trees such as citrus trees (orange and lemon trees) and hard-stone trees, mainly peach and apricot trees.

Other characteristic species are fig and prickly pear trees, as well as mulberry trees or date palms, which coexist with the garden's own vegetable crops.

• Vegetation:

The vegetation of Puente Tocinos is typically orchard, with the presence of orange and lemon trees, as well as peach and apricot trees. There is also a large presence of fig trees, prickly pears and date palms. On the other hand, the riverside forest typical of these areas grows on the banks of the river channels, with poplars, poplars and willows.

Vegetable crops complete the chromatic mosaic, the most common being tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, zucchini, broad beans...

• Fauna:

Owls, hawks, blackbirds or greenflies are the most abundant species in this area of the Murcian orchard, where swallows, goldfinches and swifts can also be found.