Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Jarama bridges: Pindoque & Arganda
Rivas-Vaciamadrid · Battlefield
The story
The Nationalist offensive of February 1937 needed to cross the Jarama. On the night of 11 February, Moroccan Regulares crept up to the Pindoque railway bridge near Vaciamadrid and silently killed the International Brigade sentries; a Republican attempt to blow the bridge failed, and it survived the explosion. Further south, Barrón's cavalry seized the Arganda road bridge. These crossings opened the way to the hills of Pingarrón and Suicide Hill. Nearby, on the Cerro del Melero at Rivas, stretches of Republican trenches from 1938 have been restored.
What you can see today
The railway bridge (rebuilt) and old Arganda road bridge over the Jarama in the Parque Regional del Sureste; restored trenches on the Cerro del Melero.
Plan your visit
Reach on foot or by bike from the Laguna del Campillo (Rivas-Vaciamadrid) along the river paths; free.
Sources
- parquelineal.es/historia/guerra-civil/la-batalla-del-jarama/puente-del-pindoque/
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jarama
- parquelineal.es/historia/guerra-civil/la-batalla-del-jarama/puente-del-pindoque/
- viajaporlibre.com/espana/madrid/restos-de-la-guerra-civil-en-la-comunidad-de-madrid
Nearby sites
- International Brigades memorials, Jarama · 12 km
- Suicide Hill (Colina del Suicidio), Jarama · 12 km
- Pingarrón hill, Jarama · 12 km
- Museo de la Batalla del Jarama, Morata · 13 km
- Los Yesares positions, Pinto · 13 km
- Cerro de los Ángeles · 13 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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