Palomares, Almería
Encyclopedia
Palomares is an agricultural, fishing and tourist village on the Mediterranean Sea
in the Almería
province of Andalusia
, Spain
. It is about 20 meters above sea level. The village falls within the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora
.
The ruins of El Artial lie just outside the village.
of Strategic Air Command
crashed, causing radiation contamination after its payload of nuclear bombs was ruptured. There were four thermonuclear bombs in the plane. The high-explosive igniters on two bombs detonated on impact, spreading radioactive material, including plutonium, over a wide area of the Spanish countryside. A third bomb landed relatively intact and was recovered. The fourth bomb landed in the Mediterranean Sea, and U.S. military searchers took months to find and recover the device intact. In 2001 CIEMAT detected higher levels of plutonium, uranium and americium than average over 24 acres of Palomares.
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
in the Almería
Almería (province)
-History:The rich customs and Fiestas of the denizens retain links deep into the past, unto the Moors, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians.During the taifa era, it was ruled by the Moor Banu al-Amiri from 1012 to 1038, briefly annexed by Valencia , then given by Zaragoza to the Banu Sumadih...
province of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is about 20 meters above sea level. The village falls within the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora
Cuevas del Almanzora
-External links:* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería...
.
The ruins of El Artial lie just outside the village.
1966 B-52 crash
The town is noted for an incident in 1966 where a B-52 StratofortressB-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
of Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
crashed, causing radiation contamination after its payload of nuclear bombs was ruptured. There were four thermonuclear bombs in the plane. The high-explosive igniters on two bombs detonated on impact, spreading radioactive material, including plutonium, over a wide area of the Spanish countryside. A third bomb landed relatively intact and was recovered. The fourth bomb landed in the Mediterranean Sea, and U.S. military searchers took months to find and recover the device intact. In 2001 CIEMAT detected higher levels of plutonium, uranium and americium than average over 24 acres of Palomares.