Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Isla de San Simón (concentration camp), Ría de Vigo
Redondela · Repression & memory site
The story
Galicia fell to the coup within days in July 1936, and the rearguard repression was severe. The small island of San Simón, a former lazaretto in the Ría de Vigo, became a concentration camp and penal colony for political prisoners — first from Vigo and Pontevedra, later from across Spain, including many older prisoners. Overcrowding, hunger and disease killed hundreds (around 250 in 1941 alone), and some inmates were taken out and shot. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural in 1999, the island is now a cultural centre dedicated partly to memory.
What you can see today
The restored island buildings, bridge to San Antón islet, and memorial and literary route; guided tours explain the camp period.
Plan your visit
Visits by written request to the Xunta de Galicia; groups must arrange their own boat. About 2 hours.
- Price
- Island entry free (transport extra)
- Booking
- Visits by written request to illadesansimon.cultura@xunta.gal
Checked September 2026 from official sources: cultura.gal. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- mapcarta.com/Isla_de_San_Sim%C3%B3n
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_de_San_Sim%C3%B3n
- mapcarta.com/Isla_de_San_Sim%C3%B3n
Nearby sites
- Convento de San Marcos, León (concentration camp) · 252 km
- Oviedo siege – the old town · 255 km
- El Salvador cemetery mass grave, Oviedo · 256 km
- Oviedo front – Cerdeño bunker · 258 km
- Ceares cemetery mass grave, Gijón · 277 km
- Simancas barracks siege memorial, Gijón · 278 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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