The region

The Negro Marquina is explored around the town of Marquina, which is located in the province of Vizcaya (Basque Country region) - northeast of Spain. There are archeological evidence at the Kobaua and Axpe graveyards that testifies the human presence around this area during the Mesolithic and Eneolithic periods. The town´s foundation on the 14th century was done together with the construction of its surrounding walls and some buildings inside. The original architecture is quite well kept and there are several evidences of the first few buildings such as the Mugartegui palace.


The local economy is mostly based on the primary and secondary sectors, with particular relevance for agriculture and cattle hearding, timber exploration and metal industry. The metal industry has in fact played an important role in the past, through the development of an important arms and guns industry. The natural stone extraction for the construction industry also plays an important role on the local economy. The high quality of the Negro Marquina marble (also known as Marmol Negro) has gained international recognition.

The marble

The Negro Marquina marble is explored by around four quarries around the town of Marquina. The quarries are considered of large dimension, from where large blocks are extracted. It is estimated that there are large reserves of this marble for the future exploration.

The Negro Marquina is one of the most important marbles from Spain, having a very strong and well established market both in Spain and throughout the World. It is considered a reference Spanish black marble, having conquered designers and architects from different corners of the World. 

Overall analysis

It is not difficult to understand the reasons behind the Negro Marquina´s success. It has an amazing look, with a deep and genuine black colour. Even the white veinaged variation has a beautiful appearance, with the strong contrast between the dark black and the well-defined white veinage. Moreover, the Negro Marquina has great technical properties, being recommended for basically any kind of applications. It is a very resistante material that is even used in flooring with high utilization.

On the other hand, the Negro Marquina may ocasionally presents some carbon, which weakens the slabs and finished product. In addition, the increasing popularity and high demand of the 1st quality material, has turned the Negro Marquina a more expensive and somehow exclusive black marble.