Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Alto del León (south side), Guadarrama
Trenches & fortifications
The story
The Guadarrama pass, renamed Alto de los Leones by the victors, was one of the first battlefields of the war. Columns sent by General Mola from Valladolid and Segovia seized it on 22 July 1936 and held it against militia columns from Madrid in bloody fighting over the following days. The front then settled along the crest. Nationalist positions pushed south of the pass towards La Jarosa, the most advanced in the central sector, while Republican lines faced them on the lower slopes. Both sides fortified the mountain with concrete bunkers, shelters and observation posts that survive in the pine woods.
What you can see today
A bunker behind the roadside restaurant at the pass, an armoured observation post, and trenches, nests and a vaulted command bunker in the woods towards the La Jarosa reservoir.
Plan your visit
A 13 km circular walk links the positions (about 600 m of climbing). Mountain weather: carry warm clothing even in summer. The north side of the pass is in Segovia (see Castile).
Sources
- rutasconhistoria.es/loc/buker-de-mando-enbalse-de-la-jarosa
- rutasconhistoria.es/loc/buker-de-mando-enbalse-de-la-jarosa
- viajaporlibre.com/espana/madrid/restos-de-la-guerra-civil-en-la-comunidad-de-madrid
Nearby sites
- Valle de Cuelgamuros (former Valle de los Caídos) · 8 km
- Fresnedillas de la Oliva bunkers · 23 km
- La Granja offensive – the battlefield above La Granja (Cabeza Grande, Matabueyes) · 24 km
- Blockhaus 13, Colmenar del Arroyo · 31 km
- Villanueva de la Cañada & Mosquito Ridge · 32 km
- Quijorna · 32 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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