A wander through Franco's paranoia
This is the fab little town of Llançà on the Costa Brava and well worth a stop if you're taking the slow train from Portbou to Barcelona/Girona/Figueres.
It's about a 1km walk from the old town (and train station) to the port and beach. Why so far away?
In the past, tourists tended to be bands of marauding pirates looking for places to pillage, so canny locals decided to keep their town out of sight.
But we've come here to learn a lesson
... or more precisely learn a lesson about someone who didn’t learn a lesson about the importance of learning the lessons of history?
Confused?
No?
Anyway, we’re going to go for a little walk along the crinkly coast from Llançà’s Port to the Cap de Ras
taking us past some nice beaches and coves.
What we’re looking for is apparently pretty well hidden to avoid detection by enemies and spies.
Ah! Here it is.
In the Spanish Civil War, General Franco managed to take control of Spain with more than a little help from his friends
...but the country he was now in charge of had been devastated by three years of destruction, famine and disease and when Second World War broke out, he opted to keep Spain neutral. But by 1944 with the defeat of Nazi Germany all but inevitable, he was worried that the Allies might want rid of him as well.
So he ordered his government to set to work on a cunning plan.
This bunker is one of thousands of fortifications that formed the top secret P- Line
Because the whole project was top secret, we can only guess the details but it seems to go like this:
France had spend a huge amount of time and resources on building the Maginot Line, which proved useless.
And Nazi Germany put in a gargantuon effort to build the Siegfried Line, which was just as big a waste of time.
So what is the very last thing the Allies would expect him to do?
Yep...
So getting the country back on its feet had to wait while a massive line of defences was built across the Pyrenees.
And as you can guess, it never got put to use, unless you think of it as a seaside hotel for conscript soldiers.
And so it’s off to find a quiet cove to have a dip and then grab some calamaries before heading back to the train station.
Getting there
Llançà is easy to get to by train from Portbou (10 mins), Figueres (15 mins), Girona (1 hour) and Barcelona (2 hours).
Useful links
Tourist info: https://www.visitllanca.cat/
Details on the place visited in the video https://www.visitllanca.cat/en/heritage/go-sightseeing-in-llanca/cap-de-ras-bunker/
For purchasing tickets here's a link to the Trainline