Murcian Paprika. Pimentón de Murcia.

The pepper was introduced in Spain from America, at the end of the XV century or at the beginning of the XVI. The first pepper mill in the Region that is known dates back to the 18th century. Throughout the nineteenth century and up to the mid-twentieth, the cultivation of peppers for paprika was extended to occupy 80% of the farmers of the time in the Vega River Segura.
The pepper industry as such has its origin in hydraulic mills, mainly dedicated to grinding cereals.
In 1950, a young inventor, Jesús Alcantud, created an innovative machine that modernized the old installations, applying pneumatic translation, cleaning and mechanical seed extraction systems.
He made grinders series with his own patent, of which can be found in the world about a thousand units.
Since April 2001 there is the Denomination of Origin of Pimentón de Murcia.
The Denomination of Origin Pimentón de Murcia applies to the product that results from grinding totally red peppers of the genus Capsicum Annum L, variety "Bola", grown in the Region of Murcia.
(Source: regmurcia.com)
Image: old tinned / canned paprika at City of Murcia Museum.