Plaça Macià bunker: a testament to Barcelona's spirit during air raids in 1938

Sant Adrià de Besòs harbours a hidden secret. Beneath its thriving present lies a shelter, a relic of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. Rebaptized as a museum, it serves as a tribute to the city's resilience in the face of terror. In 1938, the municipal authorities selected Plaça Maciá for the shelter, aiming to prevent civilian massacres from aerial bombings. Overseen by architect Juan Maymó, the shelter was completed in the same year, just in time for Barcelona's own air raids in January and March.

The shelter was sealed in March 1939 with the arrival of the nationalist forces. Sixty years later, in 2006, the shelter was reopened following restoration by architect Judit Bellostes. It now offers guided tours and audiovisual materials, and can accommodate 80 to 100 people. The refurbished shelter forms part of an educational project encompassing other war-damaged sites in the city, intended to stimulate reflection on the war, promote active learning, and give voice to those who lived through the Francoist bombings of 1938.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons