The preparation, characterization, and use in a desulfurization process at low temperature of sorbents obtained by a mixture of different clays (smectite, attapulgite, and sepiolite) and CaO or Ca(OH)(2) are described. Different ways of preparation, dry or wet, and different calcium compound/clay ratios, times, or temperatures were tested. The surface area of the obtained sorbents depends greatly on the preparation conditions. X-ray analysis shows that the clay acts as a mere support of the calcium base in the experimental conditions tested. The reactivity toward SO2 is related to the dispersion of the basic centers of the sorbents evaluated by chemisorption. Calcium utilization (expressed as moles of SO2 per moles of Ca in percent) of the 1/10 Ca(OH)(2)/smectite sorbent prepared by a dry mixture was 40%. Calcium utilization of the 1/10 CaO/smectite sorbent prepared by a wet mixture at room temperature was 70%, being 17% the value found with commercial Ca(OH)(2) under the same desulfurization conditions. Taking into account that smectite is very common in Spain and that the ways of preparation are easy and cheap, these sorbents are good alternatives to the conventional sorbents used in dry or semidry desulfurization processes.