Soon there will be another historic heritage site open to the public in Alcalá de Henares. At least, that is the intention of the local city council, which has announced the completion of restoration work on the air-raid shelter located beneath the famous Plaza de Cervantes and the start of work to convert it into a museum.
So far, the work carried out at the site has included “the comprehensive restoration of the shelter, the installation of a forced-ventilation system to eliminate moisture, new lighting, and a thorough cleaning,” as explained by the council member for Historical Heritage, Vicente Pérez.
In addition, original elements of the electrical system have been restored , such as the porcelain switches typical of the era, as well as wooden structures dating back to 1938, when the shelter was built. Much of its structure comes from the ashlars of the Church of Santa María, which burned down in 1936 and was later demolished to provide building materials.
The ultimate goal of the work, according to Pérez, is“to open the shelter in the coming months for both technical visits and guided tours for the general public.” This will provide access to a vital part of the town’s history that has remained buried for decades.
A shelter built during the Civil War
Until a few years ago, and despite the fact that the shelter’s existence was already known, its exact location remained unknown. The only available information consisted of a few documentary sources on the subject, as well as a sketch—originally published by the chronicler José García Saldaña—and an aerial photograph taken by the Condor Legion in 1939, in which the bunker’s structure could be seen.
In 2023, the city council received 3 million euros in Next Generation EU funds earmarked for the renovation of Plaza de Cervantes. It was then that the decision was made to include the search for and restoration of the bunker in the plans for the plaza’s comprehensive renovation. Over the past year, work has been carried out to restore it, and this work has now been completed.
Inside, which extends 38 meters to the northern end of the plaza, there are several rooms designed to minimize damage in the event of an explosion. According to documentation from that period, this narrow space with low ceilings was intended to shelter around 1,000 people, who could enter through only two entrances.
It is not the only known shelter in the town, although it is“the largest and most structurally significant,”according to a statement from the Alcalá de Henares City Council when it was discovered in 2023. During the Civil War, the Republicans established the Headquarters of the Army of the Center in the municipality, and dozens of shelters were excavated beneath the ground to protect the civilian population from bombings by the rebel forces and their allies.