Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Otxandio – Andikona bombing memorial
Memorial
The story
On 22 July 1936, four days after the coup, two Breguet XIX light bombers flown from Recajo (La Rioja) by Ángel Salas Larrazábal and José Muñoz Jiménez bombed and machine-gunned the Andikona square in Otxandio. The square was crowded for the Santa Marina fiestas. About 61 people were killed, most of them civilians and many of them children. Otxandio sat on the front between Biscay and Álava. The raid is often called 'the first Gernika', because it was one of the first air attacks of the war to kill a crowd of civilians. A sculpture in the square honours the victims.
What you can see today
The village square (Andikona) with a memorial sculpture to the victims of the bombing.
Plan your visit
A small village on the BI-623 between Durango and Vitoria; the square is in the centre, so parking and a 20-minute visit are easy.
Sources
- geonames.org/search.html?q=Otxandio&country=ES
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardeo_de_Ochandiano
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otxandio
- sabinoarana.eus/es/historias-vascas/efemerides/22-de-julio-de-1936-el-bombardeo-de-otxandio-20220722
Nearby sites
- Durango bombing – Santa María de Uribarri · 14 km
- Intxorta front & Elgeta memory centre · 17 km
- Gaztelumendi breach – Larrabetzu Iron Belt bunker · 27 km
- Astra factory air-raid shelter, Gernika · 30 km
- Casa de Juntas & Tree of Gernika · 30 km
- Pasealekua air-raid shelter, Gernika · 30 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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