A look at the fronts of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid
Sometimes, when a student lies on the grass at the University City of Madrid, they are actually sitting on the spot where a howitzer landed, people died or a shooting took place in the past. The same happens in many other places of the Community of Madrid. In fact, it is common to find old trenches and bunkers throughout the autonomous community. Some people even find projectile fragments that have been resting there, without exploding, for years and years.
Today we will explore the footprints of the battles that took place in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, which was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican and the Nationalist factions. These vestiges have remained there since, but it is only recently that people have begun to seek routes to explore them as a way to reconnect with the past and avoid repeating it.
Civilians walking among ruins after a Nationalist attack during the Spanish Civil War. | Shutterstock
Before we start exploring the fronts of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid, let’s quickly discuss how the conflict unfolded in the capital of Spain. The Spanish Civil War broke out between the 17 and 18 July 1936. The coup d’état of the Nationalists was successful in some cities, but not in all of them. In some places, the armed forces remained loyal to the Spanish Republic. Madrid was one of those places.
Due to its economic, strategic and political significance, the capital of Spain quickly became a prime target for the Nationalists. So much so, that they sent troops from different fronts to seize it. However, all the attempted attacks failed, and so Nationalist general and later fascist dictator Francisco Franco decided to focus on other fronts, considering that taking over Madrid would not be easy and the Spanish Civil War was probably going to be a long one. Madrid resisted the rebel attacks, although the Republican faction was not able to perform a successful counter-attack either. Meanwhile, the capital of Spain was forced to fight hunger and bombings.
Madrid’s defence ended up with the coup d’état led by Segismundo Casado against the government of Juan Negrín. Franco’s troops finally entered the city on the 28th March 1939, ending the longest siege of the Spanish Civil War.
The shelter of Cabeza de Líjar in the mountain range of Guadarrama. | Shutterstock
As we said before, after the outburst of the Spanish Civil War, Madrid became a prime target for the Nationalist faction. The capital had to fight the troops of General Emilio Mola in the north and the troops led by Francisco Franco in the south. This way, the mountain ranges of Guadarrama and Somosierra became strategic locations for the battles fought in Madrid.
Indeed, the mountains of Madrid witnessed a series of fierce battles fought between the two factions. Nevertheless, this front came to a standstill in September, and it remained that way until the end of the war. There are many vestiges of the battles that took place there, like the battle of Frente del Agua. The publishing house Ediciones Desnivel has released a guide comprising 58 routes that navigate the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War in the mountain ranges of Rincón, Guadarrama and Malagón.
These include the routes of Puerto de Guadarrama-La Sevillana-Alto del León, the route of Frente del Agua or the one of Guadarrama-Los Tomillares. Thanks to them, the traveller can discover different traces from the war, such as machine-gun nests or blinded vantages.
The hill of Garabitas today. | Wikimedia
Another remarkable military operation that took place in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War was the battle of the University City of Madrid. In November, the Nationalists, led by General Varela, took possession of the highest point of Casa de Campo, the hill of Garabitas. They also crossed the river of Manzanares, although they did meet Republican resistance. After that, they settled in the Escuela de Arquitectura of the University City. Meanwhile, the Republicans took the area around the faculties of medicine, pharmacy and dentistry, this way stopping the advance of the Nationalist troops.
The University City of Madrid soon became a battlefield. They fought using trenches, just as in World War I. We can still see the holes left by projectiles in some of the buildings on campus, although most of them have been restored or rebuilt at this point. Despite the hard battle, none of the factions could improve its position. The Republicans did not retrieve the positions they lost, and the Nationalists were not able to advance anymore.
The latter entrenched themselves on the hill of Garabitas, and they took advantage of the strategic location to bomb the city centre of Madrid for the rest of the war. The street that suffered the most was the popular Gran Vía, which got to be known as “the howitzer avenue”. At the same time, the air strikes, which had been going on since August, got even worse.
“I would rather destroy Madrid than let the Marxists have it”, claimed General Franco. He implemented an action plan to demoralise the inhabitants of Madrid through air strikes. The aim of the Francoist army was to force the capital to surrender by decimating their population and buildings and, ultimately, their hope. But Republicans never gave up, although authorities reported that by early April 1937, air strikes had resulted in more than 900 deaths, almost 3000 injured and the destruction of almost 1000 buildings.
The battle of the University City of Madrid came to an end with the meeting of Leganés. There, Franco decided to give up on Madrid as his main military target, which involved acknowledging that the war would be long and a case of attrition warfare.
The Jarama became a battlefield during the Spanish Civil War in Madrid. | Shutterstock
After their attempt to surround Madrid from the north-west failed, the Nationalists tried to attack from the southeast with the aim of cutting off communications with Valencia, the capital’s main source of supply. This assault is known as the battle of the Jarama, and it lasted from the 5th to the 25th February 1937.
We can find traces of the battle in the municipalities of Morata de Tajuña, Arganda del Rey and Rivas, among other places nearby. The hill of Suicidio and Alto del Pingarrón are some of its most significant spots. There are others too, like the underground passages of Valparaíso or the monument to the International Brigades next to the rail trail of Arganda del Rey. Of course, there are plenty of trenches as well.
The Nationalist troops were defeated in this battle and in the battle of Guadalajara too, so Franco decided to focus on other fronts, and his troops in the capital stayed in a defensive position.
The bunker of Brunete. | Shutterstock
The battle of Brunete was different to the other conflicts, because it was the Republican faction who attacked here. They did so for two different reasons. To start with, they wanted to isolate the Nationalist troops so that they would stop the siege over Madrid. Second, they tried to distract them from other battles on different fronts.
Almost 40 000 people died on both sides of the battle. One of the main vestiges that have remained is the bunker of Valdemorillo, a strategic point for the Republican faction. There are buildings in this town, such as the church in the main square, that still have scars from the bullets that hit them. The battle of Brunete came to an end in late July, the Republicans did not achieve their goals and it would become the last great conflict of the battle of Madrid.
Posición Jaca, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid. | Shutterstock
We have discussed the main fronts of the Spanish Civil War in Madrid, but there are many other traces of the conflict throughout the Community of Madrid. For instance, the city centre of the capital holds the air raid shelter of the Buen Retiro Park or the bunker of El Capricho, better known as Posición Jaca. It is also one of the best-preserved bunkers of Europe.
When it comes to the outskirts of the city, it is worth mentioning Blockhaus-13, a concrete bunker that lies only a couple of kilometres from Colmenar de Arroyo. It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and it is one of the most significant pieces of military architecture from the Spanish Civil War that we can still visit in Madrid.
