Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Paracuellos de Jarama cemetery
Repression & memory site
The story
As Nationalist troops reached Madrid in November 1936, thousands of prisoners — officers, priests, Falangists, conservatives — were taken from the Modelo, San Antón, Porlier and Ventas prisons in 'sacas' and shot beside the Arroyo de San José at Paracuellos and at Soto de Aldovea near Torrejón. It was the largest single massacre in the Republican zone. The orders for the removals came from Madrid's public-order authorities under the Junta de Defensa; the degree of responsibility of its councillor Santiago Carrillo, and the role of Soviet advisers, remain contested. The cemetery holds the mass graves and a monument erected after the war.
What you can see today
A walled cemetery on the slope with long rows of mass graves, crosses and memorial plaques listing identified victims.
Plan your visit
Managed by a private brotherhood; opening is restricted, typically mornings and on commemorative dates. Check locally before going; be respectful.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracuellos_de_Jarama
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracuellos_massacres
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanzas_de_Paracuellos
Nearby sites
- Posición Jaca bunker, El Capricho park · 7 km
- Cementerio Civil & Almudena execution wall · 13 km
- Telefónica building, Gran Vía · 17 km
- Arco de la Victoria (Moncloa) · 17 km
- Ciudad Universitaria front · 17 km
- Museo Reina Sofía — Picasso's Guernica · 17 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.
Open the guide