Arcadia Spain

We visited the Shelter 307, one of the shelters that were built during the Spanish Civil War, to protect from the indiscriminate bombing to which Barcelona was subjected.

Our students traveled back to the 30s to see how the citizens of Barcelona protected themselves from the bombings during the war, and they have learned a lot of interesting things!

This shelter is one of the more than 1,000 bomb shelters built in the city and is a good example of passive defense. It comprises nearly 400 metres of tunnels, with a height of 2.10 metres and a width of between 1.5 and 2 metres. Also, it has a number of different facilities which were not common in other shelters–a toilet, water fountain, infirmary, a children's room, and a fireplace.

As we mentioned, Shelter 307 is one of the finest examples of a bomb shelter, that’s why it has now become a veritable memorial to the people's struggle to survive in the face of adversity. Our students were able to feel the anguish suffered by these people when they were forced to face a new phenomenon: The bombing of the civil population.