An Excursion That Stood Out
You may be wandering around the bustling neighborhoods of Gracia. This past week we went to The Plaça del Diamant Bomb Shelter located in Gracia and this was an excursion that stood out to me. It stood out to me because learning about the history of Barcelona is very important to me. A visit to this shelter can help shed light on certain normalities utilized during the Spanish Civil War. To start, this was built in the 40s to help protect the population against bombings. As this bomb shelter is underground, you can imagine it is a very tight space. It was built to hold up to 700 people. In the time period of the 1940s, people might have stunk due to poor hygiene conditions. If you happened to get sick or panicked, there was an infirmary for relief and medical attention.
Due to the large number of stairs leading down into this underground bunker, in the 1940s this was mainly accessible to able-bodied people. There are two entrances in case one entrance got blocked off due to the bombings. People could not stay here all night; I believe people would stay under for around two or three hours at a time. These bomb shelters were placed all over Barcelona though, so people in different zones could still access a temporary safe place while the Spanish Civil War unraveled.
Vanessa Leftwich
Major: Consumer Behavior & Marketplace Studies
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Program: Spain – IES Business & Art Barcelona