DZ CHARLIE

Spanish Civil War 1936–1939

Gaztelumendi breach – Larrabetzu Iron Belt bunker

Trenches & fortifications

GuideSpanish Civil War 1936–1939
AreaThe North
TypeTrenches & fortifications
When12 Jun 1937
Time to allow45 min
LocationExact spot known
GPS43.25661, -2.79840
Open the free field guideDirections (Google Maps)

The story

The Iron Belt was built from late 1936 as a ring of trenches, bunkers and gun positions around Bilbao. It was planned for about 70,000 defenders but held by roughly 30,000, and the engineer Alejandro Goicoechea defected to the Nationalists with its plans, revealing its weak points. On 12 June 1937 the Nationalists concentrated heavy artillery and more than a hundred aircraft on the weak Gaztelumendi sector at Larrabetzu and broke through. A last Basque counter-attack at Mantuliz (Derio) failed, and Bilbao fell a week later. Near Sarrikola a concrete bunker was built into a farmhouse; ongoing excavations here have uncovered more remains of the line.

What you can see today

A Civil War bunker built inside a building in the Sarrikola area, near the Gaztelumendi breach sector.

Plan your visit

In the rural Sarrikola neighbourhood of Larrabetzu. Treat it as private property and look from the lane; combine it with the Zamudio Iron Belt trail on the same ridge.

Private land: view it from the road or public path only.

Sources

Nearby sites

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The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939

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