On the Santa Pola headland - an update on the refurbishment of Republican positions

On my last trip over to Spain I made my usual trip up to the Republican defensive positions on the headland at Santa Pola to check on the progress with the refurbishment work. Essentially, the defences are being turned into a bit of a tourist attraction as well as featuring on some great new mountain bike routes. I dont have a problem with that, but what I do have a problem with is the local PP council painting the guardhouse a ridiculous shade of blue and adorning it with hippy grafitti. That is frankly and insult to the republican defenders who fought to stop the fascist planes as they wheeled in from the Med to bomb Alicante. I wandered away cursing and through the pine groves found what was clearly a bomb crater and after taking some snaps I picked up a strange chunky looking pieced of metal, twisted, scored and obviously subjected to extreme heat at some point. Shrapnel - either from a shell casing or an enemy bomb. The Mahou bottle is purely for perspective but its a piece of the Civil War history and sits on the shelf now in pride of place.

The Stanbrook and the fall of Alicante

In April of this year a plaque was unveiled in Cardiff, organised by the International Bridages Memorial Trust, to a hero of the Civil War - Archibald Dixon. On March 29 1939 tens of thousands of Republicans assembled on the dock side at Alicante, the last City to fall to Franco, in the hope of evacuation. The evacuation never came, partly due to a blockade by Italian destroyers and partly due to the connivance of the British Government. One ship made it through. The Stanbrook. Due to collect saffron and oranges, Dixon instead chose to overload his ship with 2,638 refugees from the fascists on a vessel just 230 feet long. It was an incredibly brave thing to do. Despite attacks from fascist planes, and listing badly, the Stanbrook made it to Algeria after 22 hours. The French Colonial authorities refused permission to disembark and Dixon had to negotiate for the women, children, elderly and disabled to leave. The men would reamin for over a month with many ending up in concentration camps. Those left behind in Alicante were either murdered or taken to the concentration camp at Los Almendros and later the labour camp at San Isidro. Dixon himself was killed some months later when his ship was torpedoed by a U boat. Although he now rightly has a plaque in Cardiff thanks to the IBMT there is nothing to mark the events of the 29th March 1939 on the dockside at Alicante. Only luxury yachts. That is a scandal that needs to be rectfied and the local campaigners deserve our support in their campaign for a memorial in Alicante.

The air raid shelter musuem inland at Alcoi

Alcoi. I headed inland on the bus from Alicante having heard that there was a museum set into the old Civil War air raid shelter underneath the Art School. As the weather turned thunderous and the bus headed in through the mountains I had a feeling that this trip might well prove to be something special. The museum in Alcoi has very little coverage on the web and it took the assistance of a local cab driver to find it. I was soon glad I had made the trip. Alcoi was a major industrial centre as well as being a rock-solid Republican stonghold. It was battered by the Italians and their SM79 bombers and only had the most limited of anti-aircraft defences. The museum is extraordinary. It looks like much of the structure has survived the last eighty years intact and has been sympathetically converted into a fine museum which is a tribute to the resilience of the people of the town who took shelter here. From the brilliantly recreated medical bay to the striking exhibitions detailing the assault from the air this is truly a moving place to visit if you get the chance. Towards the end of the Civil War Alcoi was hammered by a ruthless coalition of fascist forces testing out the carpet bombing strategy that would soon be hitting London, Paris and other European cities. Scores of innocent people were killed. The very least that the musuem does is ensure that they will never be forgotten.

Gran Bar Pomares Altet - a trip back in time

In Altet, right under the flight path into Alicante Airport, you will find a bar that has survived pretty much intact since the days of the Civil War. In fact, Gran Bar Pomares dates back to the late 1920's and is a really atmospheric reminder of those days. The dark interior is cool and quiet on a hot sunny day and a great place to escape the heat. With a few dishes of tapas and a large glass of tinto there are few places I know that are more relaxing whilst conjuring up a timeless feel of the days gone by. I like to think that this would have been a meeting place in the days of the Republic when this whole area was loyal to the Government right to the end and remained staunch in its opposition to Franco and his coup. One warning, the opening hours, particularly during the winter months, can be a bit eratic but if you turn up and its closed, as I have, there are plenty of other fine bars and restaraunts in the small town of Altet.

More from El Faro

Back up on the hills overlooking the Bay of Alicante on the edge of Santa Pola, an area that I always try and spend some time in. I found on this visit that the guard house/bunker protecting the heavy anti-fascist gun emplacements had been sprung open so I was able to get in. You get a real feel in the cramped space the working conditions of the republican forces billeted up here. I also stumbled across what looked like a massive crater close to the network of gun emplacements, barracks and bunkers. It was certainly not a natural shape. Looked like a near miss from the fascist planes as they motored overhead.

Denia - the transit point for the Nazi rat lines

As well as being home to the extraordinary air raid tunnel, Denia played a pivotal point after the Spanish Civil War as a drop off point for Nazis escaping the collapse of Hitlers Reich. With the connivance of Francos regime Denia became a transit port for leading war criminals on their route down to South America. But some are thought to have stayed. I could find little on this dark side of the towns history and I need to do some more work on it. It is rumoured that some people still know where the safe houses are. I will be back to explore more when I have cracked on with the research.

The Denia Air Raid Shelter

It's a long haul north up the Costa from Alicante to Denia involving two trams and a change at Benidorm but I never tire of that journey that clings to the rocky coast and offers some fantastic views across the Med - make sure you sit on the right side though. Denia is at the end of the line, as you bowl out of the station head straight across and towards the Castle/municiple centre and you will find one of the finest monuments to those trying to protect their communities from the Fascist bombing raids. A tunnel is carved out of the rocks that the Castle sits on and has been converted into a stunning memorial. Hewn from the solid rock you can walk the full length and it is used as a thoroughfare by the locals as they get around town. Incredibly atmospheric you can get a feel for what it must have been like for the people of the town as they sought respite from the Condor Legion. It is one of the most carefully and well thought out Civil War memorials that I have seen on my travels. Take it in and after you have spent some time there head into town to one of the many pavement cafes and grab some tapas and soak up some sun before the long tram journey back south. You will not be disappointed.