Alicante gets a Civil War museum at last

For so long the Spanish Civil War has been buried away in Alicante despite the Cities extraordinary suffering both during and after the conflict and its strategic significance as the last place to fall to the fascist forces. In this blog I have looked at the memorial to the bombing of Alicante market and the barely visible signage marking the Los Almendros concentration camp. The fight for a memorial to the many thousands who suffered, and the many who died, on the dockside awaiting rescue by ships that, with the exception of the Stanbrook, never came, rages on. So you can imagine how pleased I was to hear that at last a museum was being opened in the old fire station opposite the newly opened air-raid shelter uncovered under the old bus station. The main aim of the museum is to capture the terror of the repeated fascist bombing raids on the City as Hitler and Mussolini tested the tactics that would later be unleashed across Europe. There are interviews on big screens with elderly residents who remember the bombings along with an evocative selection of exhibit pieces and well thought through graphics. One small item that struck me hard was a copy of the decree issued after the fall of the City banning communist, socialist, anarchist and trade union organisations. If you are visiting Alicante don's miss the museum and the neighbouring shelter. I just hope there is more to come as this City at last begins to give up its secrets.

The shelter below the old bus garage in Alicante

I remember the old bus station in Alicante well, struck out from there on numerous journeys and it had a beautiful, timeless Art Deco style and of course a bar where you could hole up waiting for your departure. It was replaced a couple of years back by a new, modern facility down by the port side which is much more functional but a lot less pretty. Thankfully, the lovely old terminal building has survived but when the departure bays were ripped up and demolished it revealed a time capsule beneath - a Civil War era air raid shelter built to hold more than a thousand people untouched and intact from the moment it was sealed up after the War. It is thought to be one of a network of over a hundred shelters across Alicante and nearly eighty years on it has been opened up and you can visit and get a feel for life in this City under the fascist bombing raids. To get in you need to ask at the desk at the new museum just across the street in the old fire station and you will be escorted down. Other than the lighting it is wholly original and the handwritten signage warning of spies and identifying the medical bay are still clearly visible. It was only opened up a few months ago and, along with the museum, is an important development in a City where the reality of the Civil War has lain buried for decades. I hope it is a sign of more recognition of Alicante's brutal bombardment and oppression to come. The shelter sits in a newly designed square with its own bar and cafe and with a visit to the new museum nearby that's a morning in this fantastic and historical City sorted out.