This blog has been a long time in the making. For years we have tried unsuccessfully to visit the Civil War air raid shelter in the heart of Almería. With only a few time slots available, we have missed out every time, usually because our trips to the city have been at such short notice. This time we were in luck!
The entrance to the shelter is centrally located in Almería. You can buy tickets here for €3 and as far as I can see it’s exactly the same tour that you may pay some resellers as much as €18 for. Our tour was in Spanish but was fairly easy to follow if you have an interest in the subject. We did hear the guide talking to an English speaking couple about buying tickets for the following day when a guide who spoke English well would be available. There is no information online about this so I guess it’s luck of the draw. Even without understanding the guide, it’s a great way to pass an hour and a half for just a few Euros. The 13-minute video at the beginning is subtitled in both English and Spanish, so you will pick up enough information there to see you through. Bear in mind that the tour exits a kilometre or so from the entrance emerging back into the daylight outside the School of Art & Design on Plaza Pablo Cazard.
Access to the tunnels is via a stairway, but there is a lift. Underground the floor is level and gently slopes downwards all the way. At the far end the lift was out of order but everyone managed to negotiate the steps with few problems. It’s not too narrow down there either, so only the most claustrophobic of people would struggle. Along the way we stopped at a few locations whilst our guide gave us information about the construction and use of the tunnels. It was thanks to the combined engineering ingenuity of mine and road construction workers that these tunnels were built so well.
It was interesting to hear how thousands of the city’s inhabitants crowded into the shelter. The main passageway is guarded by a zig-zag of walls near each entrance to protect against bomb blast should one land nearby. Unfortunately it was at the entrances that the majority of injuries (and fatalities) occurred. People were in such a rush to get in that, should someone ahead fall over, they were simply trampled on in the panic. That’s a really awful thing to think about. As well as the public shelter, there are private shelters in the network. For some you just had to know about them whilst other “owners” put a black flag on their door to alert distressed people that there was access to a shelter through their house.
There are some special areas along the way. Food had to be stored somewhere, and there was also a medical facility. Whilst everywhere else is pretty much bare concrete, doctors worked miracles in a small hospital with its own water supply, access to the main hospital above for supplies, and the luxury of marble slabs and tiles for sanitary reasons. Our guide seemed to deflect the question about toilet facilities though. Perhaps she just didn’t want to think about it! Most of the raids took place during the day so people were expected to use their own facilities before and after being in the shelter. For children it wasn’t so easy to hold on though, and families would bring some kind of receptacle they could take away, which I don’t really want to think about!
In one or two places you can see drawings etched into the walls by frightened children. They resemble houses being bombed by passing aircraft. You may have to use your imagination! Most of the walls have been concreted over for preservation but some sections have been retained for you to see these etchings.
With our modern day luxuries, it’s hard to imagine what life was like during the Spanish Civil War. This visit does give you an insight into the horrors of war for the every day people of the city. Buses and lorries passing overhead make for a very atmospheric rumbling sound which is a little eerie at times.
If you have visited this shelter, please let me know your thoughts.
