In November 1936 Franco's troops reached the gates of Madrid convinced they would take it within days. The city held out until March 1939, bombed from the air and shelled from the nearby hills, with the front line a few streets from the Gran Vía. Twelve stops between the balcony where the Republic was born, the bank that lost its gold, the skyscraper used as a target, the correspondents' hotel, the barracks stormed in July, the park of bunkers, the bridge no one was meant to cross, the university turned into a trench, the hospital where Durruti fell, the prison of the death convoys, the jail built by its own prisoners and the valley now trying to change its meaning. Approximate audio duration: 24 minutes.
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Madrid sitiada: la capital que vivió casi tres años con el frente en sus calles
En noviembre de 1936 las tropas de Franco llegaron a las puertas de Madrid convencidas de que la tomarían en días. La ciudad resistió hasta marzo de 1939, bombardeada desde el aire y desde las colinas vecinas, con la línea del frente a pocas calles de la Gran Vía. Doce paradas entre el balcón donde nació la República, el banco que perdió su oro, el rascacielos que servía de blanco, el hotel de los corresponsales, el cuartel asaltado en julio, el parque de los fortines, el puente que nadie debía cruzar, la universidad convertida en trinchera, el hospital donde cayó Durruti, la cárcel de las sacas, la prisión que construyeron los presos y el valle que hoy intenta cambiar de significado. Duración aproximada de audio: 24 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~24 min of audio · 69.71 km on foot (~17 h 25 min walking) · about 18 h in total
You are standing in the Puerta del Sol, facing the building with the clock. This is the Real Casa de Correos, from the eighteenth century. To understand the war you are about to walk through, you have to start here, five years before it broke out.
On 12 April 1931 Spain held municipal elections. In Madrid and in almost every provincial capital the republican candidates won. Two days later, on 14 April, this square filled with people, and on this building, then the Ministry of the Interior, the tricolour flag was raised.
That same night King Alfonso XIII left Madrid for exile. The Second Repu…
2
The Gold That Went to Moscow
You are facing the Bank of Spain, on the corner of Alcalá and the Paseo del Prado, next to the Cibeles fountain. Look at the building: stone, iron bars, a solidity that seems eternal. In 1936 its vaults held one of the largest gold reserves in the world.
When the war broke out, the Republican government faced a huge problem. Britain and France signed a non-intervention pact and refused to sell weapons. Germany and Italy, meanwhile, were sending aircraft and troops to Franco from the very first month.
In September 1936, with the rebel troops advancing on Madrid, the finance minister Juan Negr…
3
The Skyscraper That Served as a Target
You are on the Gran Vía, in front of the Telefónica building. Look up: almost ninety metres of stone and brick. When it was finished in 1929 it was the tallest building in Madrid and one of the tallest in Europe.
That height made it two things at once during the war. For the defenders it was a perfect observation post: from the top you could see the front. For Franco's artillery, positioned on Garabitas hill in the Casa de Campo, it was the easiest target in the whole city.
Shells fell on this street so often that the people of Madrid nicknamed it the Avenue of the Fifteen and a Half, after …
4
The Correspondents' Hotel
You are in the Plaza del Callao. Look at the large department store building on one side. Until 1964 the Hotel Florida stood there, one of the most famous places of the war.
In 1937 the Florida was the hotel of the foreign press. Ernest Hemingway lived there, covering the war for an American news agency, along with the journalist Martha Gellhorn and the novelist John Dos Passos.
The front was little more than two kilometres away. Shells aimed at the Telefónica sometimes landed on the hotel. Guests changed rooms depending on which side of the building was more exposed that day.
In one of tho…
5
The Barracks That Surrendered and Was Not Spared
You are in front of the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian sanctuary more than two thousand years old. It is a peaceful spot, with water and famous sunsets. But the ground beneath you has another story: this is where the Cuartel de la Montaña, the Mountain Barracks, once stood.
By 18 July 1936 the military uprising had spread from Morocco. In Madrid, General Joaquín Fanjul shut himself inside these barracks with soldiers and Falangist volunteers. He expected other units to join him and the city to fall.
No one came. The government had begun handing out weapons to the trade unions and left-wing par…
6
The Park Where the Front Line Ran
You are in the Parque del Oeste. Trees, grassy slopes, joggers. Look west, beyond the Manzanares river: that green mass is the Casa de Campo. In November 1936 the enemy was there.
At the start of that month Franco's columns, with legionnaires and Moroccan troops, reached the outskirts. On 6 November the Republican government left for Valencia, convinced the capital would fall. It left the defence to a council headed by General José Miaja.
The city did not fall. Militiamen, soldiers of the new Popular Army and ordinary residents dug trenches and held on. On 8 November the first of the Interna…
7
The Bridge No One Was Meant to Cross
You are next to the Puente de los Franceses, the old brick and stone bridge that carries trains over the Manzanares. It is called the Bridge of the French because French engineers built it in the nineteenth century for the northern railway.
In November 1936 this bridge became a symbol. It was through this stretch of the river that Franco's troops tried to break into Madrid. The defenders clung to the bank, and on the far side of the water the fighting went house by house.
A song was born in those days. To a popular Andalusian tune, the militiamen sang: Bridge of the French, oh mother, no one…
8
The University Turned into a Trench
You are in the University City, facing the brick buildings of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Students, backpacks, bicycles. It is hard to imagine that this campus was a battlefield for more than two years.
The University City was a modern project, launched in the late 1920s. In 1936 several faculties had only just opened and others were still under construction. Franco's troops entered here after crossing the river, on 15 November.
The fighting went building by building, sometimes floor by floor. The rebels took the School of Architecture, the Casa de Velázquez and the Hospital Clíni…
9
The Hospital Where Durruti Fell
You are in front of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos. Ambulances, white coats, people coming and going. In 1936 this building was not yet finished. It was a huge concrete shell at the tip of the wedge Franco had driven into Madrid.
The rebel troops occupied it in November and turned it into a fortress. From its windows they dominated the ground. The Republicans attacked it again and again without ever retaking it.
In mid-November a column of Catalan anarchists arrived from the Aragon front. It was led by Buenaventura Durruti, the most famous anarchist leader in Spain, idolised by his follower…
10
The Prison of the Death Convoys and the Victor's Arch
You are at Moncloa, facing the Arco de la Victoria, the Victory Arch. Almost fifty metres of stone crowned by a quadriga. Franco's regime built it between 1950 and 1956, at the entrance to the University City its troops had failed to take in battle.
Now look at the large monumental building with towers and spires on the other side of the square. It is the Air Force Headquarters, built after the war. Beneath it lies another place: Madrid's Model Prison, the Cárcel Modelo.
In August 1936, amid the chaos of the first months, militiamen stormed the Modelo and killed some thirty prisoners. Among …
11
The Prison Built by Its Prisoners
You are in Carabanchel, in south-west Madrid, next to the site of what was once one of the largest prisons in Europe. Today almost nothing remains in sight. But for more than half a century this name alone was enough to make people in Madrid lower their voices.
On 1 April 1939 Franco signed the last war bulletin. For the defeated, peace did not come. Hundreds of thousands passed through prisons and concentration camps, and thousands were executed in the following years, many against the walls of the Eastern Cemetery.
Madrid's prisons could not cope. Between 1940 and 1944 this prison was buil…
12
The Valley Trying to Change Its Meaning
You are in the valley of Cuelgamuros, in the Guadarrama mountains. Look up: the stone cross is about a hundred and fifty metres tall and can be seen from miles away. Beneath it, carved into the rock, is an enormous basilica.
Franco ordered this monument built in 1940 to commemorate the fallen of his crusade, as he called the war. Construction took almost nineteen years. Among the workers were Republican political prisoners working off their sentences, alongside free labourers.
It was inaugurated on 1 April 1959, exactly twenty years after the end of the war, under the name Valley of the Fall…
How long does the "Madrid Under Siege: The Capital That Lived Nearly Three Years with the Front in Its Streets" audio tour take?
It has about 24 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 69.71 km walking route (~17 h 25 min on foot). Plan roughly 18 h in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Balcony Where the Republic Was Born" (coordinates 40.4169, -3.7035). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Madrid and pick "Madrid Under Siege: The Capital That Lived Nearly Three Years with the Front in Its Streets". No account required to start.
