Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Turó de la Rovira anti-aircraft battery (Bunkers del Carmel)
Barcelona · Trenches & fortifications
The story
The Republican anti-aircraft defence (DECA) built its main battery on this 262 m hill because it commanded the city. Four Vickers 105 mm guns, directed by acoustic locators and searchlights, fired on the Italian and German bombers raiding Barcelona in 1937–38. The guns were disabled as the Republicans withdrew on 25–26 January 1939, just before Nationalist troops entered the city. After the war the emplacements were taken over by shanty housing, which remained until 1990. In 2011 the Barcelona History Museum (MUHBA) restored the site as a place explaining both chapters of its history.
What you can see today
Concrete gun platforms, the command post and barrack foundations, shanty-town floor tiles, and a 360° view over Barcelona.
Plan your visit
Free, open-air site; steep walk up from Carrer Marià Labèrnia (buses V17/22/119 go close). Busy at sunset; the small MUHBA interpretation space has limited opening hours.
- Open
- MUHBA site: Oct–May Wed 10:00–14:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–15:00; Jun–Sep Wed, Fri–Sun 16:00–19:00; closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 24 Jun, 25 Dec
- Price
- Free
- Notice
- May close in strong wind for safety
Checked September 2026 from official sources: barcelona.cat. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- poblesdecatalunya.cat/element.php?e=14553
- poblesdecatalunya.cat/element.php?e=14553
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tur%C3%B3_de_la_Rovira
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90691/Anti-Aircraft-Gun-Emplacement-Carmel.htm
Nearby sites
- Telefónica building & Plaça de Catalunya (May Days 1937) · 4 km
- Teatre Poliorama, La Rambla (Orwell's rooftop) · 4 km
- Barcelona Cathedral – the religious persecution of 1936 · 4 km
- Plaça de Sant Felip Neri (bombing of 30 January 1938) · 4 km
- Camp de la Bóta memorial (Fraternitat) · 5 km
- Refugi 307, Poble-sec (MUHBA) · 5 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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