The bombing of Alicante market

On the 25th May 1938 a squadron of Italian fascist bombers launched an attack on Alicante which was to go down as one of the deadliest aerial missions of the Spanish Civil War. After the Aragon offensive Franco wanted to eliminate the maritime and commercial base of the Republic and authorised the Italian Aviazione Legionaria and Hitler's Condor Legion to launch indiscriminate attacks on Republican cities like Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante. On that day in May 1938 more than 90 high explosive bombs were dropped on Alicante, many of them falling on the central market. It was a busy day and the market was teaming with people and nearly 300 people were killed with over a thousand wounded. Many of them women and children. Today the market looks pretty much as it would have done 75 years ago and is still a bustling and thriving commercial centre with a timeless display of fish, meat,fruit and vegetables. The locals shop there in huge numbers and it is great place to visit. However, for seventy five years there was nothing at all to mark the terrible events of that day during the Civil War when the fascist bombs rained down. In May 2013, anti-fascists from the historical memory organisation finally succeeded in laying down a fitting tribute in the plaza behind the market which you can see above. It is one of the few Civil War memorials in Alicante where the right-wing politicians use every means that they can to play down events which still remain within living memory. With the relentless campaigning of the historical memory organisations we can hope that the Alicante market memorial is just one of many that will be unveiled in the future.