The Spanish
Civil War1936–1939
The fronts, the ruined villages, the shelters and the places of memory — across the whole of Spain.
Free · works with no signalExplore the guide
+More to exploreThe big picture, People and Weapons & arms.
A printable version of the 158-site guide, area by area, with a short history of the war, the timeline, people and glossary: to read offline or print for the trip. The battle maps, weapons and the full background are in the app only.
The printable guide (PDF)Many trenches and battlefields are on private or protected land: keep to paths and view from the road. Cemeteries and mass-grave sites are places of mourning for families today — please visit quietly.
A free DZ Charlie field guide · More field guides at dzcharlie.com
From coup to surrender
The main events of the war in date order. Numbers on the map follow the list; the dashed line joins them in time order, not the route anyone took.
Every site on the map
Language
ESEspañolEsta guía en español.Read
Take it with you
Open this guide in Safari or Chrome, tap Share (or the ⋮ menu), then Add to Home Screen. It opens like an app.
Every site and event carries a rating for how sure we are of the exact spot:
Waypoints for your sat-nav
Every site in the guide as a file you can save and open later in Google Maps, Google Earth, a Garmin or another navigation app. Each point has its name, the story in brief and how sure we are of the spot.
How to use the file
Google Maps. On a computer, open Google My Maps, choose Create a new map, then Import, and pick the KML file. On your phone the points then appear in Google Maps under Saved → Maps.
Google Earth. Open Google Earth, choose Projects → Import KML file.
Garmin. Plug the device into a computer and copy the GPX file into its Garmin/GPX folder, or import it with Garmin Express, BaseCamp or the Garmin Connect app.
Phone navigation apps. Organic Maps, OsmAnd, Gaia GPS and others: open the GPX file from your Downloads or Files and choose the app.
Where the file goes. On a computer or Android phone it lands in Downloads. On an iPhone it goes to the Files app, in Downloads.
Pins marked LOW are the general area only. Much of the land is private: view from the road.
The other guides
DZDZ Charlie field guidesEasy Company from Normandy to the Alps, and more guides to come.Sites by area
The big picture
Seven things that decided how the war was fought — and lost and won.
The coup, hour by hour
17–20 July 1936: how a military rising that half-failed became a civil war.
Briefing
How to use this guide
Plan
Open Tour, choose the part of Spain you will visit and how much time you have. The guide picks the most important sites that fit, puts them in driving order and splits them into days.
Go
Every stop has a Google Maps button for directions. Near me at the top shows the closest sites wherever you are.
Read
Each stop tells what happened there, what you can still see and how to plan the visit. Where historians disagree — about numbers killed, or who was responsible — a dashed box says so.
Accuracy
exact spot known · right area · general area only. Tap any rating for more.
How it began
From the birth of the Second Republic in April 1931 to the military rising of July 1936.
People
Leaders, commanders, volunteers and witnesses — from both sides and from abroad.
Battle maps
Six battles drawn as simple step-by-step sketches: who was where, who attacked, and how it ended. Red boxes are Republican units, blue diamonds Nationalist units — the usual colours of historical maps of this war.
Weapons & arms
Spain's own arsenals, Soviet aid to the Republic, and German and Italian aid to the Nationalists: the war was also a testing ground for the weapons of the Second World War.
Words to know
Find out more
Official museums, visitor centres and routes. Check opening times before you go: many small centres open only at weekends or by appointment.
Credits & sources
Maps
Road maps drawn by us from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors, openstreetmap.org/copyright) and Natural Earth (public domain), in several levels of detail so village names and small roads appear as you zoom in. Positions of sites checked against Wikipedia, Wikidata, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), TracesOfWar, Mapcarta and official heritage and memory inventories. Each stop lists its own sources.
Words
Written for this guide from published histories and official sources. The war is still debated in Spain; where figures or responsibility are disputed, the guide says so and gives the range.
Fonts
Big Shoulders Stencil, Special Elite and Courier Prime, all under the SIL Open Font License.