Civil War Free Tour

Madrid was one of the first European capitals to suffer massive aerial bombing of its civilian population, and for almost three years it lived with the front line literally inside the city. On this free tour you walk through the real settings of the Civil War (1936-1939): the place where it all began in July 1936, the trenches of the Parque del Oeste, the deadlocked front at the University City and the streets that propaganda called "the Madrid that shall not pass". It is not a walk of scattered anecdotes, it is about understanding what it is like to live in a city split in two.

The tour combines the great military milestones with everyday life: what people ate when everything was scarce, how the sirens sounded, where residents took shelter when the shells fell. You will see why the Gran Vía was nicknamed "the Avenue of the Shells", how the Telefónica building became the most fought-over skyscraper in Europe and what role the International Brigades played as they marched along these very pavements in November 1936. The tone is rigorous and respectful: real people died and suffered here, and that is how it is told.

This tour is part of the European Trip Tours network, designed for those who travel around several capitals of the continent and want to understand the 20th century where it happened. If you come from Berlin, Prague, Guernica or the memory of the Second World War, Madrid is a key piece: it was the dress rehearsal for the aviation that would later devastate Europe. It fits perfectly into an itinerary of historical memory that crosses borders, and also into a few loose days in the city.

It is designed for those spending 2 or 3 days in Madrid who do not want to stick only to the Royal Palace and the Prado. You can do this tour one morning or afternoon and devote the rest to the classics, because we take you through neighbourhoods (Príncipe Pío, Argüelles, Moncloa) that many visitors never set foot in, but that were the front line. You leave knowing how to look at Madrid in a different way: you will recognise the impacts on the facades that would have gone unnoticed before.

The guide brings period photographs so you can compare then and now at the exact same spot. Small groups, a relaxed pace, plenty of stops and all the room for your questions. You do not need any prior knowledge of Spanish history: we start with the context and take you by the hand through the three years of the siege.