Elche, just an easy ride on the bus inland from Alicante, a city which boasts some extraordinary palm gardens and which is well worth a visit if you are ever out on the Costa Blanca. I can promise you won't be disappointed. But it was also a city which took a fearful pounding from the combined fascist air squadrons during the Civil War. In response, the Republican authorities built air raid shelters which are thought to have held tens of thousands of citizens, bigger even than the massive bunkers at Cartegena. Located adjacent to the magnificent Art Deco central market, last year the shelters, and even older historic remains above them, were partly uncovered. The pictures show what would have been an entrance way. The local council are exploring the possibility of opening the shelters up, possibly as a museum similar to Cartagena, but at the moment they are fenced off. I tried to scope what might have been the extent of their boundaries and a retaining wall appears to have been built into the banks of the dried river bed that carves its way through Elche, I've included that in the pictures. I will be watching the developments on this one carefully and will report again in the future.
In an earlier post I looked at the fascist detention and torture centres at San Fernando Castle and the Bullring in Alicante. Standing guard over the port city is the magnificent Santa Barbara Castle which hides its own Civil War secrets. Torture cells, buried deep beneath the castle and utilised down the centuries, were pressred into service. I was unable to get in and could only snap a picture of their entrance gates. Although the castle is a major tourist attraction, with its history well mapped out for visitors, its Civil War role is carefully glossed over. Again though, I can strongly recommend a trip up from street level in the lift to the top the castle. The views and the sheer scale of the structure itself will take your breath away.
