Tarragona
Barcelona
Tarragona
Barcelona
Add APD as a preferred Google source for free.
Stay informed with the latest current news.
The Institut d’Estudis Vallencs has organized a route to recover the memory of the old republican airfield located between Valls and Alió, an enclave that the Condor Legion bombed between 1938 and 1939 and whose layout now coincides with the space where a company plans to install a park of photovoltaic panels.
The paradox of the place is that the old runways are about to change use while some of the most visible remains of the aerodrome are still preserved on the perimeter, from the Barrau farmhouse to anti-aircraft shelters, the control booth, and a wall with bullet impacts where fighter plane machine guns were tested.
The route promoted by the Institut d’Estudis Vallencs covers several points of the complex to explain how this republican airfield operated during the Civil War.
Among the vestiges that are still maintained is the Barrau farmhouse, which housed the command post. Francesc Murillo, historian and guide of the visit, also identifies on the exterior wall traces of earthy colors that were used to camouflage the house.
“The command post was here” – Francesc Murillo, historian, Institut d’Estudis Vallencs
The anti-aircraft shelters, the control booth, and the wall where pilots tested their fighter plane machine guns also remain in the area.
There are still bullet impacts there.
The field was built at the end of 1937 on expropriated farmland and was officially inaugurated on March 31, 1938. It was part of the network of aerodromes planned by the Ministry of Defense of the Generalitat and was popularly known as the vesper of La Gloriosa.
That network included other enclaves in Camp de Tarragona and Penedès. Its role was key in the battles of the Ebro and Segre, within the republican air strategy.
The first German bombing of the facilities arrived on November 5. Later, the Condor Legion dropped 168 bombs on December 21, 1938 on the aerodrome.
The attacks continued until January 14, 1939. On that day, the rebel troops occupied Valls and temporarily set up in the facilities.
In parallel, the future photovoltaic park is projected over the space of the old runways, although the works plan to preserve the historical structures that are still preserved on the perimeter of the complex.
The official inauguration of the aerodrome was celebrated on March 31, 1938.

source