The anti-aircraft position on Serra Grossa over Alicante

High above the City of Alicante, the Serra Grossa rises to the north just a kilometer or so beyond Santa Barbara Castle. The mountain frames the backdrop to the first concentration camp at Los Almendros which we have visited a couple of times before. What I hadn't realised, until I stumbled across a local Spanish website, was that the Serra Grossa is also the location of a key Civil War anti-aircraft battery which remains in superb condition. You reach it by accessing a track which winds its way up the back of the mountain from just behind the tram stop at its base. It's a steep path but easily doable and once you reach the vantage point, with its sweeping views across the Bay of Alicante, you can imagine the hard graft that the gunners would have had to put in trying to bring down the Italian and Condor Legion planes on their bombing raids over the City. The trenches and storage blocks around the gun emplacement are incredibly well preserved 80 years on. If you are in Alicante, take a couple of hours out to visit the Serra Grossa battery and the neighbouring site of the Los Almendros camp. You won't regret it.