You will probably have seen the bunkers on the beach of Es Trenc, strange and somewhat brutal reinforced dugouts made of concrete. They are a bit of an eyesore. The shelters were built in the Forties on behest of General Franco who was somewhat paranoid about an imminent invasion by the allied troops. Although Spain had officially not taken any sides in the military conflict of World War 2, España was clearly on Hitler’s and Mussolini’s side. The two Fascist leaders had come to Franco’s help during the Spanish Civil War and there had always been a latent alliance between the three nations all led by totalitarian autocrats even if no joint military action was carried out between 1938 and 1945.
As Hitler’s grasp in the occupied territories diminished, Franco feared for some military retribution by France, Britain, USA and the USSR. For some reason he was convinced that an invasion was imminent and he expected it here, in the Balearic Isles. He assembled a relatively large fleet of submarines, based in the North of the island, in Port de Pollença, and he reinforced some of Mallorca’s defense installations, such as Cap Enderrocat, Cabo Blanco, Sa Fortalesa, Muleta and Aucanada. I think there were about twenty coastal defense fortifications here in Mallorca, all equipped with heavy cannons and other such artillery array. Some of these are still intact even though mostly abandoned; some such installations have now been re-constituted for coastal surveillance by radar.
The much anticipated invasion of course never came. Franco survived when Hitler and Mussolini didn’t. The Spanish dictator died in office in 1975. The rest is history.
The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken near Colònia de Sant Jordi, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: September 12th, 2008. The time was 16:05:26. The photo (bottom) was taken near Ses Salines, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 30th, 2012. The time was 17:12:17.
The siren that was never heard and everyone was happy to wait but never face the invasion… dead but no blood
Fascinating. This is completely new to me and reminds me of the paranoia of Hoxha, the former dictator of Albania; he had hundreds of pillboxes built along the coast. Like Franco, Hoxha feared invasion by non-existent enemies. Fear can have terrifying reprecussions.
thanks for sharing that information about enver hoxha and albania. i did not know that. there’s lots more interesting facts about franco and his reign that most people – should i say most foreigners – don’t know about even though we walk past some of the evidence almost on a daily basis.