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The Park Shelter

The military coup d’état on July 18, 1936, against the legal government of the Republic, led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). One of the most decisive factors for the Francoist victory was the war in the air. Franco’s army, supported by the Italian and the German air forces, systematically bombarded the civil population, turning the rearguard into yet another battle front.

This led to the building of public and private air-raid shel- ters all over Catalonia. With this aim, in June 1937 the Government of Catalonia created the Passive Defence Committee, which spread to the different local levels. In Calella three shelters were built: the Roser, the Park and the Farm. The Park Shelter has a main gallery with 66 metres long, 2 metres high and 2 metres wide, and three transversal galleries, each one with more than 20 metres long.

Calella was bombed twice. The first one took place on April 4, 1937. A three-engine aircraft coming from the Majorca island, bombed the Llobet-Guri factory, causing substantial material damage but no human victims. The bombing of November 24, 1938 was more serious. Four bombs were dropped causing three deaths and wound- ing several citizens, likewise causing major damage to almost 40 houses. Today the Park Shelter is a represent- ative relic of the fight to secure democratic rights and freedoms in Catalonia.