Shrapnel damage and the air raid shelter in Plaza Balmis

You don't have to look far to see the lasting signs of the Civil War in Alicante. My general advice is to make sure that you look up! The railing around the old fire station, which is now the home of the Civil War museum, are a classic example. Just look closely and you will see where shrapnel has bent and gouged the uprights. A couple of blocks away the air raid shelter in Balmis Square now has a proper entrance. I've still not been able to get in there as the hours for access are limited and depend on having enough visitors to make it worth while. Just something else that I need to sort out.

The remains of trenches in the Sierra overlooking the Alicante road

On a hot June morning I spent the best part of two hours walking in searing heat and then clambering about on the steep slopes of the Sierra that sits just to the West of the Clot De Galvany. This is not a trip for the faint hearted as you need to climb up through the pines as you try to get your bearings. I had a rough idea of the location but was beginning to think it was a wild goose chase when I stumbled on it. Overgrown and partly buried, republican defensive trenches hacked out of the rock and overseeing the old Cartagena/Alicante road. The expected sea borne attack never came from the South. Alicante held out to the end before eventually being over run by Italian troops from the West and the North. As The Clash sang in Spanish Bombs.......can I hear the echoes from the days of 39? Trenches full of poets, the ragged army.......

The Alicante Market clock and siren - permanent reminders of the bombing raid

I've looked before that the horrific events on the 25th May 1938 when Italian bombers based in Majorca under Franco's direction launched a raid on Alicante market. 300 men, women and children were killed. Another thousand were injured. As you enter the ground floor of the market building from the front you will find a class case that contains the original market clock which stopped at the time of the blitz. The air raid siren you can see next to it failed to operate. The contemporary news coverage clipping is courtesy of the Restos de la Guerra blog.