The Mining and Metallurgical Society of Peñarroya (SMMP) was founded in 1881 in Paris. The aim of this company was to obtain refined lead and silver by smelting the galenas extracted from the rich deposits located in the south of the province of Badajoz, using the mineral coal existing in Belmez and Peñarroya, in the nearby province of Córdoba.
The SMMP started a great process of industrial concentration and diversification in Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo. As a result, it became the leading metallurgical producer in Spain during the 1920s. It also led other industrial sectors such as electricity generation and the production of coal and fertilisers during this period.
In this sense, the paper made in the mill was used to pack, transport and store its own goods.
By 1930, the SMMP had become a multinational company present on the five continents.
The Spanish Post-Civil War period, the imprisonment and extermination of the shareholders from the Rothschild Family by the Nazis during World War II, the geographical isolation of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo and especially, the depletion of lead seams in the nearby area led to the progressive closing of the industrial complex between the 1950s and the 1970s