The region

The Light Emperador is mostly explored around the town of Bunol, which is located in the region of Valencia - southeast of Spain. Archaeological evidence related to the town of Bunol goes back 50,000 years ago. With a population of 9,000 people, it is normally visited by over 30,000 people during the La Tomatina: a tomato throwing event in the Plaza del Pueblo. This event happens on the last wednesday of every August, where thousands of people gather in the Plaza to throw tonnes of ripe tomatoes at each other.



The local economy is mostly based on a combination of industry and agriculture, with fruit trees, olive oil and wine production among the most relevant economic activities.

But the town of Bunol is also known for its natural stone industry, with the extraction and transformation of the Light Emperador marble, a type of stone with international recognition.

The marble

The Light Emperador marble is explored by a single quarry around the town of Bunol. There are also some variations of the Light Emperador being explored by different quarries around the towns of Castril de la Pena and Venta Quemada, both located on the Granada province (several kilometers west of Bunol). The quarries are considered of medium to large dimension (particularly the one in Bunol), where the blocks extracted have a large dimension. It is estimated that there are considerable reserves of this marble for future exploration.

The Light Emperador is still one of the most popular marbles from Spain, enjoying a well-established market and reputation throughout the World. And despite having a healthy market in Spain, most of the Light Emperador marble is exported to different parts of the World.

Overall analysis

One of the most positive aspects about the Light Emperador marble is the reputation and recognition that it has gained in the past years. It is today a World renowed natural stone, with a well-established market. But it is also a natural stone with great visual appearance, unique colours and very crystalline. It is a good natural stone for polishing, presenting a great shining and bright look.

On the other hand, in terms of extraction this stone presents some limitations. There is one single quarry extracting the original Light Emperador, while all the other quarries extract variations of it. But it is also very difficult to find uniform and regular extraction layers.