The region

The Crema Marfil marble is explored around the area of Pinoso, which is a town located in the region of Valencia - southeastern of Spain. The town´s origin is uncertain, but it is known that during the Muslim controlled period, Pinoso was a settlement of dispersed houses.

On the 13th century this area became part of Castilla Crown (Corona de Castilla in Spanish). During this period the town was known as Casas de Costa, a name that lasted until 1773, when it was changed to Pinoso. In 1887, it started the construction of the Clock Tower (Torre del Reloj in Spanish), a monument that is today a symbol of the town of Pinoso.


The main economic activities around Pinoso are based on agriculture, particularly wine, olive oil and almond production. In addition, it has a developing shoe and furniture industries, an agro-industry and a frenetic mining activity based mainly on the exploration of limestone and salt.

But this area is also known for its marble quarries, where the well-known Crema Marfil marble is extracted. Here, the main extraction areas are located around Mount Coto (Monte Coto in Spanish) where the Crema Marfil Coto variation is explored; and around Mount Zafra (Monte Zafra in Spanish) where the Crema Marfil Zafra is explored.

The marble

The Crema Marfil marble is mostly explored in the area around the town of Pinoso. The quarries are considered of large dimension, both in the Coto and Zafra areas, where the two main varieties of Crema Marfil are explored. The Coto variety is explored by around twenty quarries, all located in the same hill; while the Zafra variety is explored by not more than ten quarries. The blocks extracted are normally of large dimension for slabs and smaller dimension for tiles. And despite the over-exploration of most quarries, it is estimated that there are large reserves of this marble for the future.

The Crema Marfil is possibly the most famous Spanish natural stone, but also one with the highest demand on the international market. In addition, it has a very strong and solid presence in both the Spanish and international natural stone markets. Despite this, the most selective quality of the Crema Marfil marble is normally destined for export.

Overall analysis

The main question we can ask about the Crema Marfil marble is: why is it so popular? The most valid reasons for this popularity are related to its:
- appearance: the Crema Marfil is an incredibly beautiful marble, with an extremelly attractive and warm colour. It does an amazing job in different applications;
- continuity: due to its large reserves and wide market availability, this marble can be easily found and used in projects from small to large dimension;
- versatility: due to its neutral appearance, the Crema Marfil is a very versatile marble for decoration. But it can be recommended for basically all kinds of applications.

On the other hand, it is important to say that the Crema Marfil is not really a marble, but a coloured limestone. It is a slightly soft stone that can wear off with time and utilization. Despite this, there are today good solutions to avoid this situation and maintain the Crema Marfil for the long-term.