Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Fuerte de Carchuna and the Motril front, Granada coast
Carchuna (Motril) · Trenches & fortifications
The story
After the fall of Málaga the front on the Granada coast stabilised between Motril (Nationalist) and the Republican zone to the east, and stayed there until 1939. On 23 May 1938 a Republican guerrilla unit landed by boat and attacked the fort of Carchuna, where prisoners (mostly Asturian miners) were held as forced labourers; 308 escaped to the Republican lines. It was one of the most successful special operations of the war. Trenches of the static front survive nearby.
What you can see today
The 18th-century coastal fort of Carchuna and remains of the front-line trenches.
Plan your visit
The fort houses a free interpretation centre (weekdays, see Visiting); trenches on the nearby hills — ask locally.
- Open
- Mon & Thu 15:00–21:00; Tue 09:00–13:00 & 15:00–21:00; Wed 08:30–14:30; Fri 08:00–15:00 (Sep 16–Jun 14); closed weekends
- Price
- Free
- Parking
- Parking at the entrance
- Access
- Ground floor adapted for reduced mobility; terrace up stairs
Checked September 2026 from official sources: tupatrimonio.dipgra.es. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
Nearby sites
- Puente Viejo de Maro (Desbandá crossing), Nerja · 38 km
- Huerta de San Vicente (García Lorca house-museum), Granada · 55 km
- Parque de la Memoria 'Málaga 1937', Torre del Mar · 59 km
- Barranco de Víznar (mass graves, Place of Memory) · 61 km
- Parque Federico García Lorca, Alfacar (Fuente Grande) · 62 km
- Paseo de los Canadienses / Peñón del Cuervo — 'La Desbandá' memorial, Málaga · 80 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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