The Artillery Barracks

The history of the barracks goes back to the first quarter of the 20th century when the Spanish government built a compound in Murcia to house the 33rd Infantry Regiment (from Seville). This regiment was succeeded in 1930 by the 6th Light Artillery Regiment, and later by the 18th Field Artillery Regiment, which stayed until 1960. From 1954 the buildings also hosted the parachute brigade. The name which has stuck is related to well-remembered events in the 1930s when the artillery were in place and citizens surrounded the building in an attempt to prevent the 1936 coup which, later, became the Spanish Civil War.

There were a total of 6 "pavilions" constructed between 1921 and 1925. The various pavilions have an attractive and fascinating eclectic mix of exterior architectural styles that vary between neo-medieval and the neo-Mudejar that is more common further north, around Zaragoza and Teruel. The architecture is notable especially for the use of colour in the facades in which painted plaster and coloured tiles are artistically combined. However, following restoration, the interiors are far from traditional.

After the death of Franco and the restoration of democracy in Spain there were far-reaching reforms of the Army in the 1980s and the barracks were transferred to the Murcia City Council in 1998. Since then the local authority have been in the process of carrying out a major rehabilitation and restoration project to transform it into a fantastic multipurpose complex.

Pavilion 2 houses a cultural centre, pavilion 3 the local municipal library, pavilion 4 both the museum and aquarium  of the University of Murcia, pavilion 5 houses the Párraga contemporary art centre ( http://www.centroparraga.es/) and the Centre for Documentation and Advanced Studies of Contemporary Art (http://www.cendeac.net/es/), and in pavilion 6  is the Professional Conservatory of Music of Murcia. The last building to be renovated has been pavilion 1, the largest in the complex and which has its main façade facing Cartagena Street. Since 2020 it has been the site of the T20 Gallery's (https://galeriat20.com/galeria/) contemporary art collection. To the SW of the conservatory is an attractive water tower which might have served the barracks but now seems part of the public water supply.