Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Monte Sollube battlefield
Bermeo · Battlefield
The story
Sollube (686 m) commands the coast road between Bermeo and Bilbao. In May 1937 it was attacked by the mixed Italian-Spanish Flechas Negras brigade under Sandro Piazzoni and the IV Navarrese Brigade, supported by the Condor Legion. Basque, Asturian and Cantabrian battalions defended it, including UGT, ANV and Kirikiño units. The mountain fell around 8 May, and fighting on its slopes continued for several days. Both sides suffered heavy casualties; published totals vary. Losing Sollube opened the coastal approach to Bilbao's Iron Belt and was seen at the time as the beginning of the end for the city's defence.
What you can see today
An open mountain with wide views to Bermeo and the Urdaibai estuary; any remains of positions are informal and unsigned.
Plan your visit
The BI-631 Bilbao–Bermeo road crosses the Sollube pass; short walks to the summit start from the pass.
Sources
- geonames.org/search.html?q=Sollube&country=ES
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_Sollube
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sollube
Nearby sites
- Gernika Peace Museum (Museo de la Paz) · 9 km
- Pasealekua air-raid shelter, Gernika · 9 km
- Casa de Juntas & Tree of Gernika · 9 km
- Astra factory air-raid shelter, Gernika · 10 km
- Iron Belt trail, Zamudio (Berreaga–Gaztelumendi ridge) · 13 km
- Gaztelumendi breach – Larrabetzu Iron Belt bunker · 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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