While living here we have realised how little we know about the Spanish Civil War. We do know that it is not something you bring up and discuss with the Spanish. It’s a pretty touchy subject. In Castellon, one of the many air raid shelters that were built during the war has been maintained and is now a free museum you can visit to learn more about this time.

It’s a sad observation to note that many cities in Spain have air raid shelters left over from the civil war. As of course do many other European cities from WW2 and the Balkan war (1991-99).

Following quotes from https://mucc.castello.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GUIA_REFUGI_EN-3.pdf

“The air-raid shelters were built during the Civil War (1936-1939) to protect the population from air strikes suffered by the city. The Tetuán shelter, witness of our history, has been recovered to show the cruelty of wars and their consequences, with the aim of contributing to the consolidation of a culture of peace”.

“In the spring of 1938, the sirens kept sounding all the time. In the final days we
did not bother to go down to the shelters, because they sounded so often: at least
30 times. They could bomb four or five times a day.”

“Castelló, like many other cities along the Mediterranean coast and northern Spain, was used as a testing ground by forces from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, inspired by and allied with the Franco regime to trial new weapons of destruction, aeronautical developments and military tactics, which would later be used in World War II. All of these were trialled here.”

“Spain gave me an opportunity to test my new air force… and also for my men to gain experience.”
Quote from Hermann Goering, Nazi Officer, testifying before the
Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, in March 1946.

When we first arrived in Castellon and explored the city we wondered about the mish-mash of architecture. In the centre, there are still some beautiful old buildings but they are scattered amongst some ugly buildings from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s etc. Of course, once we realised the city had been bombed so heavily we understood it had suffered a lot of damage and it was only a small town at the time.