An unusual memorial in the heart of Alicante

I had read on line that there was an earlier Civil War memorial in the heart of Alicante that I had walked past numerous times without actually clocking what it was. On the broad boulevard that sweeps down from Lucheros to the sea front it stands at the end of a pedestrianised section butting up against the road. The inscription - which you have to back into a bush to read - honors the memory of all victims of war who fought for what they believe in. The dates are odd - even with the final digit at the end of 194* kicked away. The cross at the top suggests a religious input - I would welcome any further information

Back up to Los Almendros Camp

With the unveiling of the new memorial on the port side at Alicante I decided to take the walk up to Los Almendros along the route that the thousands of Republican prisoners would have been marched by their Italian captors. It takes around half an hour. I had not been up for a while and was pleased to see that that the memorial stands strong and proud although you can see the lumps knocked out of it by the regular fascist attacks. It remains an extraordinary and barren site and you can easily make out the lines of the hills that loom over it today from the few contemporary pictures. Thousands died in the week or so it was open before the prisoners were marched south to San Isidro.Like San Isidro, Los Almendros has never been excavated, that makes little sense as many must have been buried here in mass graves where they fell - some mown down by Italian fascist machine guns. As the tide turns on historical memory Los Almendros is a reminder that there is still a long distance to go.

San Isidro Concentration Camp - an update

Here's an update from San Isidro by Russ who recently got in touch with me. Really pleased that this blog is helping to inspire other people who are researching the area and putting up their own posts. That is what it's for. http://www.anythingbutpaella.com/san-isidros-dark-secret/

A second Civil War air raid shelter is opened up in Alicante

A second of the 96 air raid shelters officially recorded in Alicante from the Civil War era has been opened up and can be visited by the public. On Plaza Dr Balmis it follows on from the network and museum on Plaza Seneca which I looked at on my last visit. When I headed down there it was mid week and I was unable to get in as I think there are guided tours on Friday's and Saturday's only running from 10am til 2pm. This structure has been allocated protected status by the town hall. I hope that other key Civil War sites in the City will gain similar recognition now and that some of the locations I have looked at in this blog will get the memorials that they deserve. Things are moving, slowly, but La Lucha Continua.

Santa Pola beach - another tilt at the Mediterranean Wall

If you are down in Santa Pola I can highly recommend checking out the bar/cafe down by the harbour - Los Curros - that is used by the fishing fleet. You can't miss it and its is superb value and great quality. It's on your left as you head past the big old fishing boat that serves as a memorial to the sea-faring history of this lovely, vibrant town. But just behind it, on the beach and built over as part of the foundations for the harbour wall, you will find half a bunker that is a another remnant from the Mediterranean Wall that stretched along this part of the coast to resist sea-borne nationalist invasion. Smothered in graffiti it serves as another lasting reminder of this areas Civil War history. UPDATE. On a recent return I was pleased to see that the graffiti had been cleaned off, the food and drink was also still superb.

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.