THE OLIVE MILLS

In the past, the cultivation of olive trees was very common and there were abundant harvests, and so in each village of La Vall de Gallinera there were various mills. One was the village mill and the others were private mills that belonged to the families that had more land.
The fates of these mills have been many and various: some disappeared completely and their site has been used to build new houses, while others have left behind only a few vestiges, in the form of an abandoned roller, for example, and still others have been used as a decorative element of the house and have therefore survived.
In Llombai there is a good example of an abandoned oil mill which is in danger of disappearing. The main elements remain, at the mercy of the elements: the rollers and the presses. It can be seen during the Route of the 8 Villages.
In Alpatró, the cultural association Unió Cultural d’Amics i Amigues de la Vall de Gallinera bought and restored the Moltó mill in 1992, and it currently functions as an ethnological museum.
At present, the only mill that continues to make oil in the La Vall de Gallinera is the Cooperativa Sant Roc, in Benialí.