Spanish Civil War 1936–1939

Albatera concentration camp memorial, San Isidro

Repression & memory site

The story

The Republic built this camp near San Isidro in 1937 as a labour camp. It held around 1,000 prisoners, including many detainees suspected of Nationalist sympathies, who drained the Saladares marshes; five deaths were reported. After April 1939 the victors turned it into a concentration camp for Republicans taken at Alicante port and Los Almendros. Estimates run from 12,000 to 30,000 inmates. Hunger, lice and disease killed many, with 138 deaths recorded in April 1939 alone, and prisoners were removed for execution ('sacas'). Among those held were the poet Marcos Ana and the jurist Manuel García-Pelayo. The camp closed in October 1939. Excavations began in 2020.

What you can see today

A 1995 memorial of iron beams and chains near the station, a palm grove on the camp site, and one surviving original building (a former watchtower, now a shed). Excavation areas may be visible.

Plan your visit

The memorial is freely accessible near San Isidro station, 3 km from Albatera; the site itself is largely farmland. An interpretation centre is planned.

Sources

• mapcarta.com/N4379660998
• es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_de_concentraci%C3%B3n_de_Albatera
• sanisidro.es/turismo/para-visitar/campo-de-concentracion-de-albatera/
• elespanol.com/alicante/20240704/tragico-destino-republicanos-no-pudieron-subir-stanbrook-alicante/867663449_0.html

Nearby sites

• Refugio de la Plaza Séneca, Alicante · 36 km
• Mercado Central, Alicante (bombing of 25 May 1938) · 37 km
• Port of Alicante – Stanbrook and the last refugees · 37 km
• Campo de Los Almendros memorial, Alicante · 38 km
• Refugio-Museo de la Guerra Civil, Cartagena · 64 km
• Batería de Castillitos, Cabo Tiñoso (Cartagena) · 74 km

All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →