Spain : in The City of (Lopera) Tourism Between The Trenches of The Civil War

In the Battle of Lopera (27 to 29 December 1936) there were killed in the Republican ranks, several hundred volunteers, the XIV International Brigade, including the English poets, Ralph Fox and John Cornford, in the clash with troops of Franco’s national army under the command of Colonel Redondo.

The historical memory as a unique tourist attraction, not to forget the past. The City of Lopera is keen to put the old trenches and bunkers that still resist the passage of time, thanks to an agreement signed with the aggregation of private charitable foundations, an official from the Junta DE Andalusia, through which it sold the land located in the area of Arroyo Salado.

They were the old national army posts, which still remain standing and that was the scene of one of the most dramatic episodes of the civil war and which have only a few living witnesses. On the morning of Sunday 27 December, the national troops arrived in the Andalusian town, where they managed to settle almost without resistance. Meanwhile, the 10 battalions, 12 and 13 of the XIV International Brigade took position near the town.

The battle began at four in the afternoon and finished with 200 victims of the 2,000 men on the side of Franco, while they were between 300 and 800 victims from the Republican side, a total of 3,000 fighters, with more than 600 wounded. Among those killed on the Republican front, the novelist Ralph Fox, co-founder of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and the poet Rupert John Cornford, who died on the day when at least 21 years.

Most of the trenches that are preserved are national. The remains of those Republicans are in worse condition and their recovery is more complicated, because they are among the olive trees on private land, said in statements to El Mundo Jose Luis Pantoja, a graduate in history and official chronicler of the city. The draft provides for the tourist route from improved access routes, tourist boards located and guided tours.

The idea – adds Pantoja – born from the requests we’ve received in recent years, with the aim of increasing the tourist offer of Lopera, which has among its attractions wines and its fortress of 3,500 square meters.

Among the remaining traces of the old war, the dividing line between the domestic front and the Republican, known as the face of Andyjar, two machine gun nests near the Bridge of the Arroyo Salado, in blocks of concrete, about 2.5 km from the center of Lopera, but also underground tunnels dug by the military, to protect themselves from attacks by enemy troops.

In Cerro de Las Esperillas it keeps part of the Republican trenches dug into the rock, although in poor condition, partially obscured by shrubs and the ground gained over the years.

Tour itinerary will be also included in the eleven bomb shelters made of hollow entrance Lopera, used by the civilian population to escape the bombing. According to the municipal council, these are places to exploit, for future reference, among the younger generations to learn from past mistakes, because they never have to go back to repeat a fratricidal war.

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