No sooner back from England, than we were making tracks for Barcelona.
Why? To help daughter Emily and her flat-mate move.
A trailer load Barcelona-bound
Saturday saw us leave Laroque with a large and unwieldy trailer load of cast-offs for Emily and her flat-mate’s new home. Two beds and mattresses, a table, a blanket box, a linen basket, a bike, ephemera from the kitchen, all kinds of detritus. We’d spent an afternoon on Friday packing the load, carefully, and with lots of thought and planning. Ten minutes after we set off on Saturday, it became unstable. We stopped and rejigged, went on a few miles… and more of the same. It started to rain, with quite high winds. We stopped a third time, bought more rope (OK, washing line. It’s all we could find), really had a good go at things, and finally, we had a steady load that got us all the way to Barcelona, in said wind and rain, as far as the frontier. Hooray! In Spain, the sun shone.
In Barcelona, we unloaded, unpacked, fetched and carried, and did our best to get the new flat …er … ship-shape. Sunday morning, while the girls played house, Malcolm and I were off duty. What to discover today? Well, look one way from the street outside her flat, and you’ll see far below you, the sea.
Yes, that’s the sea down there.
Look the other way, and you’ll see far above you…. bunkers.
Bunkers above
Those bunkers are among Barcelona’s lesser known secrets, and they looked intriguing. It’s a toughish climb up there, but stop for breath, and your reward is increasingly dramatic views of the city spread far below you.
View part way up.
At the top, there are battered concrete remains: the bunkers that were built by Spanish Republican forces in 1937 in their efforts to defend the city. Little could be done against the air power of the Nationalists. The Republicans were under-resourced, and their best hope was to use this high vantage point as both a look-out,and a place from which to launch protective curtains of artillery fire.
Once peace was restored, the bunkers came into use once more: a chronic housing shortage in the city meant that right up until the 1990’s, the site developed into a shanty town, housing up to 600 residents, though the council resisted providing services such as water and refuse disposal until well into the 1980’s. Remnants of this improvised town can still be seen in vestiges of tiled floors.
View of the city glimpsed through the morning glory
Another, glimpsed through the remains of a bunker.
Floor tiles from the former shanty-town.
Looking down the other way, away from the coast.
Now, you’re most likely to make the trek up here to get the very best views of the city: better than from Tibidabo. It’s not the view those Republican forces saw. From up here at La Rovira, you look down on a modern city: recent tower blocks dwarf the older buildings, though your attention will always be caught by the spires of la Sagrada Familia, still under construction. A highly-recommended excursion. Get yourselves there before everyone discovers it.
Climb down again: this is what you see.
I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.
View all posts by margaret21
12 thoughts on “The Bunkers of Barcelona”
I now see why you’re exhausted. Brava, for helping daughter and friend, but even more for scaling those heights to bring us such cool pics 🙂
…………what an exploit – collect, sort out, load and drive that all down to Spain – unload, move, settle, walk and take pictures – wish I could pin you a gold-medal on your chest – lovely weather here on the coast, swimming every day, water still warm enough…….until soon, AnnAxxx
You must be exhausted – I think you deserve a few days off after the last few weeks! I confess to not knowing a huge amount about the Spanish Civil War until I read Victoria Hislop’s “The Return”. Yes a fictional account but well researched and an insight on the divisions amongst families.
Thanks for the tip. I think well-researched fiction is a great way of gettting a feel for things and I’m currently making an order at Awesome Books ( and you know whom I thank for THAT idea) so I could add it to the list maybe.
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
I now see why you’re exhausted. Brava, for helping daughter and friend, but even more for scaling those heights to bring us such cool pics 🙂
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Cool place. Worth a visit.
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…………what an exploit – collect, sort out, load and drive that all down to Spain – unload, move, settle, walk and take pictures – wish I could pin you a gold-medal on your chest – lovely weather here on the coast, swimming every day, water still warm enough…….until soon, AnnAxxx
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Ooh, and it was hot in Barcelona too. I expect your moving memories are all too vivid still…..
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You must be exhausted – I think you deserve a few days off after the last few weeks! I confess to not knowing a huge amount about the Spanish Civil War until I read Victoria Hislop’s “The Return”. Yes a fictional account but well researched and an insight on the divisions amongst families.
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Thanks for the tip. I think well-researched fiction is a great way of gettting a feel for things and I’m currently making an order at Awesome Books ( and you know whom I thank for THAT idea) so I could add it to the list maybe.
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I’ve just had an Awesome delivery – another book on SW France and Elizabeth David’s ‘An omelette & a glass of wine’
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I’m not feeling very well disposed towards AB at the mo. Their website won’t let me get past Step 1 of my order. Grrrr.
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Sounds like an interesting drive! I hope your daughter settles in well and makes the most of life in Barcelona – very exciting.
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Oh, she’s enjoying Barcelona alright: she’s into her third year there. And what a great place to have to visit in order to catch up with her!
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Ah, so she is an old timer.
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😉
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