Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Caspe – battle of March 1938
City site
The story
From 1936 Caspe was the seat of the anarchist-led Regional Defence Council of Aragon, which ran the collectivised Republican part of the region. In August 1937 the Republican government dissolved the council by force and arrested its president, Joaquín Ascaso. During the Aragon offensive three divisions of Yagüe's Moroccan Army Corps reached Caspe on 15 March 1938. International Brigades XI, XIII and XV, later joined by the XII and XIV, defended the town, the XV Brigade most stubbornly. Caspe fell on 17 March and became a Nationalist corps headquarters for the Ebro front.
What you can see today
The historic town centre and the hills around the Guadalope valley where the brigades fought. Traces are scattered and mostly unmarked.
Plan your visit
Start from the old town and the tourist office. A local guide or book helps to locate the battle positions.
Sources
Nearby sites
- Alcañiz air-raid shelter · 22 km
- Vilalba dels Arcs: Els Barrancs trenches & Mirador del Bassot · 39 km
- Quatre Camins – Cota 427 cross, Vilalba dels Arcs · 40 km
- Coll del Moro – Franco's observation post, Gandesa · 41 km
- Quinto – Purburel / Cabezo de la Nariz trenches · 43 km
- Museu Memorial de la Batalla de l'Ebre (CEBE), Gandesa · 44 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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