Spanish Civil War and Franco Regime in
Madrid, Barcelona, and Toledo
Naahid
Naahid, Trang,
Ekta, and India
The triumphal arch was built between the period from
1950 to 1956. It is a commemorative work urban national
army's victory in the race suffered during the Spanish Civil
War at the Battle of the City Universitaria. The Arc is
located in one of Madrid's main entrances.
The design for the Air Force building is inspired by the Juan de
Herrera, which represented the height of the Spanish Empire. The
building was built in amid the Years of Hunger from 1942 to 1954. Its
surprising to learn that the government spent so much money on
this building instead of getting food for the citizens.
• This building is
known as "La casa de
las flores" . It is
located in Arguelles,
the neighborhood
suffered some of the
greatest damage in
Madrid. Nationalist
air raids targeted this
area for both its
strategic position, a
high-altitude front
line in defense of the
Republic's capital city,
and its population of
civilian residents who
largely supported the
Republic.
Madrid celebrates the Fiestas de San Isidro for 9 days, from the Friday
before May 15 through the following Sunday. It's the most important,
lively and emblematic Madrid festival of the year. During our walking
tour of downtown Madrid, we saw some elders in colorful dresses
taking pictures outside Palacio Real. I think it is great that the elders
are trying to keep the tradition and culture alive in Madrid.
During our trip to Barcelona, we met documentary filmmaker Montse
Armengou. She showed us clips from her two documentaries “Franco’s
Forgotten Children” and “Spanish Holocaust”. Her documentaries really
opened our eyes to what happened to the Republican people since they
lived in repression during the Franco Regime.
This picture shows our visit to Air Raid Refugee Shelter 307
in Barcelona. Barcelona was heavily bombed during the
Spanish Civil War. These shelters were mostly used by the
women and children because the men were out fighting in
the Spanish Civil War.
Nursing home for people suffering from
anxiety
The bathroom
These hallways were surrounded with benches,
a lot have them have been removed
Our tour guide showed us the uncomfortable living situations that
those who lived in these shelters had to accommodate to
•
As soon as we started
our walking tour, we
saw one of the
bunkers built by the
Nationalists
•
This picture, top,
was the outside view
of the bunker
•
This picture,
bottom, was the
inside view of the
bunker from an
aerial perspective
I thought this was
an picture moment
to capture. This
picture says “Viva
Espana”. Our tour
guide, Edu,
mentioned that
everytime you see
the phrase “Viva
Espana”, it means
that the
Nationalists wrote
it.
This is a
picture of
where the
Nationalist
soldiers held
their ground.
Edu told us
that about 15
soldiers slept
in this tiny
area! Can you
imagine that?
We walked
through a
bunch of tiny
bunkers. I
took this
picture to
show the
inside view of
the small
pathways that
were built
inside these
bunkers.
• After visiting
Nationalist
bunkers, we
walked through
the forests to the
Republican bunker
• The bottom
picture shows the
main Republican
bunker--- more
than 3000 men
held ground here
This was one of the Republican burial sites. It was actually built
recently in 2007. Our tour guide, Arturo, mentioned that some of
the soldier’s names were known because of their family
members and townspeople. The rest of the Republican soldiers
were unknown.
This is a building from the city of Toledo. This is a very historical city where
you can see a lot of
Spanish Civil War aftermath. In this particular picture, you can see bullet
holes in the building.
When we were in Toledo, Arturo Ruiz Taboada gave us a tour of the city. We
came across the International Jesuit House. As you can see, the brick is
discolored. When Franco was in power, he printed his ideology around the
city with the two headed eagle. The discolored brick was where the citizens
tried to erase his mark and ideology in Toledo.
While in Toledo, we also visited a mass grave. It had over 700 soldiers from
the Spanish Civil War. Every tomb had a cross on it and none of them had any
names on it. All the names and dates were kept in the National Crypt at this
cemetery.
•
Colonel Moscardo
held this building
against the
Republican forces in
the Siege of the
Alcazar
•
As you can see, it was
completely destroyed
and now it has been
remodeled
•
The Republican
forces kidnapped
Moscardo’s son in
order for the
Nationalists forces to
surrender the Alcazar
but Moscardo let his
son die
•
This monument
serves as another
strong Nationalist
victory
•
Mascardo was
compared to
Guzman el Bueno
who sacrificed his son
for the "greater good"
of the country.
•
The Office of
Mascardo was used
as a propaganda for
Franco to gain
political power..
•
Franco used this story
as a way to defame the
Republicans as
monsters who will
destroy families.
El Valle de Los Caidos
Mixture of Secular and
sacred
Overarching theme of
death, glory and
power
forced reconciliation
for Spaniards
Signifies Franco's
belief that the Spanish
Civil War was a Holy
war against the
Republicans
The eagle holds the
arrows and the yoke
Symbolizes Spain's
apex under King
Ferdinand and Queen
Ysabella
By placing the code of
arms in the Basilica
Franco basically
inscribed his ideology
in the basilica.
Franco wanted Spain
to return to its empire
and glorious years
under Ferdinand and
Ysabella.
500 ft cross
surrounding the cross
are the evangelist, Mark,
Luke and John, as well
as the 4 cardinal virtues,
Prudence, Justice,
Temperance and
Fortitude.
The cross gives off a
moral message
It illustrates how Franco
wanted Spain to return
to a moral society.
In the Basilica there is
an influx of
Catholicism.
By Franco creating the
Basilica he establishes a
myth about himself.
The myth that he created is
one of Franco restoring
Spain back to it previous
glory and height similar to
the Ferdinand and Ysabella
era.
But in actuality Franco
created something that is
considered as contrived,
hallow and meaningless due
to the fact that the basilica
was built by forced prison
labor of the republicans.
The main importance of the
basilica is to keep the place
as a monument to
remember the past.