THE CNT CIVIL WAR HOSPITAL IN VILLAJOYOSA

Villajoyosa is a beautiful town. You can get there in about forty minutes on the tram from Alicante and it's a few short stops before you get to the terminal in Benidorm. Set into a large gorge carved out by a river it's famous for its chocolate museum and also the colourful houses that cling to the steep sides of the old river bed. Stunning, but I was here on Civil War duties and that meant searching out some relics from the conflict. I didn't have to look far. In the centre of the town you will find the tourist office, it's a beautiful building with lovely shaded gardens but during the Civil War it served a different purpose and was requisitioned by the anarchist CNT as a hospital. From the exterior I doubt much has changed in the past eighty years. Digging deeper into some old records there are reports that the anarchists in Villajoyosa were in regular conflict with other groupings on the Republican side and were accused of hoarding weapons and dishing our random assassinations. Divisive and damaging stuff when the enemy is banging at the door. I managed to find a contemporary picture of Villajoyosa's 72nd Mixed Brigade from the Republican side - if I can find a picture credit I will post it up.

The Customs House building in Alicante and it's Civil War secret

I must have walked past the old Customs House building on Levante Dock in the middle of Alicante hundreds of times. It's a fabulous old structure. What I didn't realise until very recently is that it hides its own Civil War secret. The section at the far end is actually a fake facade, made up to to look like the rest of the architecture but it concealed a Civil War era air raid shelter, presumably for the crucial dock workers. Seems a bit odd in a way that you would conceal a shelter in such a prominent building and I will try and find out the reasoning. I wasn't able to get in but I have heard that the shelter may be opened up to the public in the future. When I took a trip down some works were underway, I'm not sure if they are part of that project but I was able to get some pictures of the solid stone walls inside. Hope to hear more about this interesting piece of Alicante history in the future.

The El Faro Barracks - now tidied up as a picnic area

I don't know, mixed thoughts about this. The old El Faro barrack blocks that would have housed the units operating the anti-aircraft and other ordnance up by the lighthouse overlooking Santa Pola have been tidied up and converted into a parking and picnic area for the growing numbers making use of the excellent cycling and walking routes that zig zag across the area. On the positive side it guarantees that the structures should be maintained and more people will find out about the Spanish Civil War history of the area. Negative? Maybe just a bit touristy for the purest like me. I just hope that the truth isn't buried somewhere along the way. I will be up on a regular basis with some wine, olives and a cigar to toast those who fought here eight decades ago.

An extraordinary find out on the N332 main road.

A long hike out on a fresh February morning through the nature reserve, across the motorway and over wasteland to locate some of the most stunning pieces of Spanish Civil War military archaeology I have yet uncovered. If you walk down the track from Carabassi the full length of the fence that runs alongside the Clot de Galvany eventually you will come to the N332 main road. The first thing you will find is a derelict bunker at the roadside. Check that out and the very carefully cross over the road and enter what looks like a dump for hardcore. Climb up the mound opposite you and you will be amazed. Despite being overgrown and with some sections buried and running through private land there must be about a kilometre of reasonably well preserved Republican defensive positions on what would have been the old Alicante/Cartagena Road. This find really blew me away. It's effectively laid out like a fortress and must have been home to large numbers of Republican troops. The scale is breathtaking.

The anti-aircraft positions by the lighthouse up at Cap De L'Horta

Bit of a nuisance of a thing for the amateur Spanish Civil War historian when you schlepp out some distance from base on tram and on foot only to be confronted with fences and locked gates. Where there's a will there's a way and I haven't come all this way for nothing so it's a case of scale a wall and hang off a chain link fence and hope for the best. Not bad for an old geezer with a dodgy back and shot knees. This republican anti air craft position is by the lighthouse at Cap de L'Horta north of Alicante. It would have been part of the network of defences circling the bay, taking in El Faro and Serra Grossa. Plans are afoot to open these positions up as part of the Historical Memory initiative. I will be back. It's an easy run out on the tram to Cabo Huertas and then walk the rest. Great to see the original iron gun mountings in place.

One last untouched Civil War relic up at El Faro

Up at El Faro between Gran Alacant and Santa Pola, where this adventure started for me, much of the Civil War era archaeology has been refurbished and merged into the new cycle and walking routes. But if you hack through the pine groves behind the old barrack blocks you will find this one remaining untouched, collapsed and overgrown republican anti aircraft position. The concrete mounting hole for the gun remains intact. Eighty years ago this would have been in full operation trying to take out Condor Legion planes on bombing raids into Alicante. I like the fact there is at least one unmolested relic left up here.

Socialist Civil War HQ in Alicante

I want to spend some more time looking at the surviving architecture in Alicante that dates back to the Civil War era and its use during that period. The Real Liceo Casino De Alicante is an imposing building directly fronting the harbour and during the conflict it was requisitioned as the HQ of the Socialist Party. Although it has clearly undergone some remodelling over the years I understand that a lot of the interior has been preserved but unfortunately I was unable to get access on this occasion. I will keep trying.