The Retiro Park Unveils Its Civil War Bunker

During the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Madrid became the first major city to face aerial bombings. On the night of August 27-28, 1936, a German aircraft dropped the first bombs on Cibeles Square, then known as Castelar Square, where the Ministry of War of the Republic was located. By December of that year, civilian and military casualties from aerial missiles numbered in the hundreds.

In response to this situation, construction of a 135-metre-long shelter with five vaulted galleries began in Retiro Park in 1936, eight metres underground, to protect the lives of 275 people in an emergency. This protective space was completed in 1938, but there is no historical evidence to suggest it was ever used for its original purpose. Its uses have been associated with storage activities.

Today, it remains a completely unknown bunker to many passers-by who, unaware of its existence, walk over the five metal plates leading to its interior, aligned parallel to Menéndez Pelayo Street, near the Puerta de la Reina Mercedes and next to the Panama Walk.

The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, accompanied by the Delegate for Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, and the Councillor for Retiro, Andrea Levy, opened the gates sealing this place on Tuesday to ensure it remains in good condition. Forty-five steps lead into its interior, which has kept it closed since 1938 due to accessibility conditions.

According to the Mayor, it is "a true engineering marvel" that the City Council intends "to turn into a museum and open to the public" under appropriate safety conditions, "so that Madrilenians can access one of those treasures we have in the city and that is worth knowing."

The shelter is a gallery of variable depth with a maximum of eight metres and corridor widths of 1.10-1.15 metres. It is tunnelled from an attack shaft. It has a vault height of 1.60 to 2.50 metres. The galleries are straight, broken at 90 degrees every 25 metres to prevent wave expansion. Its interior is made of brick laid in a header bond and cement, with a concrete floor. There are original ventilation shafts and others opened later in the walls. Inside, the lines in the brick (a recess) can be seen where wooden planks were embedded as seats.

This space has three entrances: one on Menéndez Pelayo Street (hidden under the asphalt, in the boulevard that the street once had) and two inside the park, the one usually used and another near Florida Park, which is closed. It also has ventilators. On the upper floor, there are latrine and toilet facilities. There is also a room that would serve as an infirmary.

After the Civil War, the shelter was closed and used for mushroom cultivation, for which it was covered with a layer of topsoil. It was also used as a storage area for hoses, furniture, and other items.