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.

MORE CIVIL WAR ARCHAEOLOGY BURIED DEEP IN THE CLOT DE GALVANY

I thought I knew like the back of my hand all of the old Civil War relics strewn across the Clot De Galvany but, as so often on this journey through Spain's past, there is always something lying hidden away that is waiting to be brought back into the picture. I'd been Googling something else when all of a sudden a picture of a ruined, yellow stone building with machine gun slits still in evidence popped up on my screen. It was marked as being on the Clot but the only form of identification was an impressive clump of palm trees. So I set out on the path that takes you right to the back of the nature reserve where it butts up against Arenales. Just as you wind round towards the section you have to climb up you will see the palm trees on your left. You really can't miss them. Head in off the beaten path and you will see the curved concrete of a Civil War-era structure. It's impressive and in good nick. Not so what I guess must have been some sort of guard house behind it. All that's left now is a couple of walls that could come down at any time. The picture at the bottom of this post shows the same structure six years ago when it was more complete and you get a much better feel for it. There is a deep well next to it that's fenced off. Was this the water source and reservoir for the Republican 225th Mixed Brigade who manned the various defences set out to guard the Cartagena/Alicante/Madrid road? Possibly, it would certainly make sense. The original picture is c/o the fabulous http://restosguerracivilenalicante.blogspot.co.uk blog.

THE ITALIAN ARMY BASE IN VILLAJOYOSA

If you head south along the beautiful sea front bay of Villajoyosa you will reach a rough coastal path, eventually this comes to an end at the Playa de los Puntos de Moro and you need to briefly head back in land before you can pick up the rough path that takes you back up to the cliff top and a superb, panoramic view across the bay. If you carry on along the path you will see looming large the ruins of the Villa Giacomina. You really can't miss it. The villa was built by Dr Alfonso Esquerdo who was the leader of the Republican Party in Villajoyosa and a major benefactor. The villa was named after his Argentinian wife, towards the end of the conflict it was used as a hospital but after the final fall of Alicante it was seized as a base by the Italian Fascist troops operating under Franco's direction across the region. When those troops left the villa fell into disuse and disrepair and has remained that way ever since. It is now a ruin, daubed in graffiti but there's a strange and ery feel to the place which now seems to stand as nothing more than a monument to the ghosts of Spain's Civil War past on this part of the Costa Blanca.

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.