Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and archaeologists access the shelters located in Sants

BarcelonaDuring the redevelopment works on 26 de Gener street, between the Hostafrancs and La Bordeta neighborhoods of Barcelona, ​​several access points have been located to Civil War air raid shelters. The discoveries were made at various times in early March, and work is underway to identify which shelters they are. The first entrance was detected on March 3rd at midday, coinciding with the initial phase of the construction work. Twelve steps were found underground leading to the walled-up area. That same afternoon, a second entrance, also consisting of 12 steps, was located. The third entrance, with 15 steps, was identified on March 11th. The order of the discoveries corresponds to the progression of the construction work, which began near Carrer de la Creu Coberta and has been advancing towards Carrer de Portugalete. This Wednesday, together with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), archaeologists from the Barcelona Archaeology Service were finally able to access the shelters. In this initial security inspection, the teams assessed the internal conditions of the approximately 200-square-meter space and determined that it must have been built in 1938. They found latrines with access to running water, water jugs, plates and glasses, electrical installations, and brick walls. The director of the archaeological intervention, Ariadna Muñoz, emphasized that it is a "large shelter." According to working hypotheses, at least one of the entrances could correspond to shelter number 0657, listed in the 1938 Atlas of Civil War Shelters in Barcelona. However, it still needs to be confirmed whether the other two entrances are part of the same shelter 07 and possibly shelter 04. In the first phase, the accumulated rubble in the located entrances was removed to reach the original structural elements, especially the wall that seals these spaces. Once the structure was identified, specific openings were made to verify the continuity of the shelters inside. The identification of these access points opens up several future possibilities regarding the heritage management of the shelters. Among the options being considered are comprehensive documentation and conservation. in situ or their eventual integration into historical memory and public awareness projects. Depending on the results of the interior inspections and, especially, the state of conservation of the structures, a final decision will be made.

During the Civil War, Barcelona was subjected to continuous bombing between February 1937 and January 1939. These were air raids aimed at disabling the industries of the main city in the Republican rearguard, but also at sowing fear among the civilian population, which was experiencing such widespread devastation for the first time in a large city. The construction of a dense network of shelters—1,322 have been documented, but many more remain undiscovered—is a testament to resilience. In fact, it became a model throughout Europe. Winston Churchill himself cited it as an example of collective mobilization.

The shelters were built mainly between Plaça de les Glòries and practically the banks of the Besòs River: there were many in El Clot and Sant Andreu, neighborhoods where many refugees from all over Spain had arrived. The other area with the most shelters was between the Barcelona Wharf, Paral·lel, Poble-sec, and Sants. Gràcia was also well-equipped; there was one under every square. In Sants, where a fifth of the population lived at that time, it is estimated that there may have been close to 300.