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Palomares is an agricultural, fishing, and tourist town along theMediterranean Sea in theAlmería province ofAndalusia,Spain. It is about 20 metres (66 feet)above sea level. The village falls within the municipality ofCuevas del Almanzora.
The ruins ofEl Artial (old derelict windmill?) lie just outside the village.[1]
The town was noted for a fatal accident in 1966 in which aB-52 Stratofortress of theStrategic Air Commandcollided mid-air with aKC-135 Stratotanker plane, causingradioactive contamination after its payload of fourhydrogen bombs (H-bombs) was dispersed and crashed. There were fourthermonuclear weapons in the bomber. The high-explosive igniters in two of these bombs detonated on impact, spreading radioactive material, including deadlyplutonium-239, over a wide area of the Spanish countryside, but safety mechanisms and electronics prevented nuclear explosions. The third H-bomb landed viaparachute into a stream, where it was relatively intact and was recovered. The fourth H-bomb landed in theMediterranean Sea, andU.S. Navy searchers took three months to find and recover the device intact. A large amount of contaminated Spanish soil was soon removed, packed up, and shipped across the Atlantic for burial nearBarnwell, South Carolina, the site of a large installation of theU.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
In 2001, theCentro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) still detected measurable levels of the radioactive elementsplutonium,uranium, andamericium over 10 hectares (24 acres) of Palomares.[2]
Annual monitoring by American and Spanish researchers found no evidence of health problems, or of any contaminated food or water resulting from the accident. Nevertheless, some areas remain contaminated and they cannot be disturbed. Although they are fenced off for safety, the result is that the region is economically blighted, and it has missed out on tourist developments like those in most other coastal towns. On 19 October 2015, Spain and the United States signed a statement of intent to discuss further cleanup of this area. Eventually, the United States agreed to remove additional contaminated soil from Palomares to a safe burial site in the United States.[3]
The accident was explored by American authorCharles Bukowski in his short story "Politics is like Trying to Screw a Cat in the Ass".
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37°14′55″N1°47′45″W / 37.24861°N 1.79583°W /37.24861; -1.79583 (Palomares)
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