El Fondó

This place is possibly  the most significant place in modern  Spanish history as it is where the leaders of the Republican government took their final flight into exile at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The war had raged from 1936, and by early 1939 the Nationalist  side had, with the active help of  Fascist Italy and  Nazi Germany, prevailed  over the legitimate  Republican government. The revolt,  led (militarily) by General Francisco Franco, is sometimes referred to as the first phase of WW2 in Europe. 

The end of the war, and the 2nd Republic, was finally precipitated by a coup by Colonel Segismundo Casado  who thought he could negotiate reasonable surrender terms with Franco for the exhausted Republican combatants. He was disastrously wrong. After the surrender of the Republican  side Franco became an unchallenged dictator until his death in 1975. The years of fascist rule in Spain were a period of repression and, particularly  in the earlier years after the civil war, of brutal reprisals against those who had dared to oppose Franco during or after the conflict. 

The leadership on the Republican side was now at risk of being captured by the coup plotters and handed over to the Nationalists. This was particularly so for the Communists. The Spanish  Communist Party  was an ally of the government during  the conflict and  made an important contribution  to the military  effort particularly in the latter stages. However, within the Republican movement  there was animosity  towards the Communists, particularly  from factions of the army, including Casado.

In the last 10 days of the war the Government  was occupying a "Finca" close to the town of Elda, known as El Poblet,  and the Communist  leadership were in the nearby town of Petrer, at  a place known to them as Posición Dakar. Both these places were chosen to be in easy reach of the El Fondó aerodrome,  and on the morning  of March 6th 1939 the Communist leaders were flown into exile via Oran (Algeria)  and  found sanctuary in the Soviet Union. The leaders of the Government  flew out at 3pm the same day and were flown to France. Prime Minister Nerin never returned to Spain.

The most famous of the Communist leaders, Dolores Ibarruri (known as La Pasionaria) outlived Franco and, with the re-establishment  of democracy  in Spain, returned to the country and was elected to the legislature.  The re-establishment of democracy started a process, which  has taken a long time, in which the history of the civil war and its aftermath is opened up, particularly  to the younger members of society. El Fondó is a great example of this with imaginatively  designed information points and an information centre (only open by appointment  at the moment) built into an old school at the El Fondó settlement. In the old school yard is a "cut out" of the now famous Dragon Rapide aircraft used to carry the Communist leadership into exile. At El Fondó is also a monolithic memorial to the events and both the main air raid shelter for the troops guarding the aerodrome  and another smaller  shelter on the periphery. Visits to the main shelter can be arranged.

Although  the departure  of the government  was seen as the end of the 2nd Republic, it remained as a government in exile and until 1976 it even maintained an embassy in Mexico. It dissolved itself with the return to democracy in Spain following  Franco's death. Mexico never recognised  the Nationalist  government  in Spain and recognised  the Republican government  from the end of WW2 to 1976.

For young people this place is an important source of information, but for those of a certain  age, particularly those with an anti-fascist philosophy,  it is a very poignant and emotional  place that reminds us of a dark chapter in the history of Europe and a lost opportunity for the democracies of Europe to stand up to fascism  before  the dictatorships were too embedded in power.