for the Spain they believed to be better: in Alicante

In Alicante, the last republican city to surrender During the three years of the Spanish Civil War -1936 to 1939- several air bombings were targeted on Alicante . On 25th May 1938  the Mercado Central was bombed by Italian Aviazione Legionaria  and more than 300 civilians perished. Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by General Franco's troops on 1st April 1939, and its harbour saw the last Republican government officials fleeing the country. One of the last acts of the Spanish Civil War was the evacuation from the harbour of Alicante of 2,683 republicans on board the British coal-ship, the Stanbrook. This was the last ship to leave Spain before the end of the Spanish Civil War, and was captained by Welshman Archibald Dickson. Thousand of republicans weren’t able to flee the country and were captured by Franco’s troops. Some of them were imprisoned in Los Almendros internment camp in Alicante outskirts. This camp hosted about 20.000 Republican prisoners from 31st March 1939 to 6th April 1939. From this camp the prisoners were taken to other locations as for instance the Albatera concentration camp or Santa Bárbara castle, a fortification in the center of Alicante. The photos below were taken in December 2017 and show several places connected to these Spanish civil war events in Alicante: the Mercado Central memorial plaques, the Stanbrook  memorial monument in Alicante harbour, the Los Almendros internement camp memorial and the Spanish flag waving in Santa Bárbara castle.