Gernica

 Not far from Bermeo at the southern end of a Ria, is Gernica, easily accessible by train. It's a name that is synonymous with the Spanish civil war so we chose to spend a day to visit the Peace museum at least. The train system worked well, on time, comfortable and inexpensive; such shame ours are not as good. The line wound around beaches and nature reserves for the twenty minutes it took to get there. Travelling by train is such a good way to see the country and its people, these views were particularly memorable.

The Spanish civil war was between the Republicans who supported the democratically elected government and the Nationalists, led by General Franco who wanted to establish a fascist regime. Franco was supported by Germany and Italy whilst communists and all sorts of socialists supported the Republicans. One of the most iconic events of the war was the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, carried out by aircraft supporting Franco's forces. The town was targeted to demoralise the Republican resistance and test aerial bombing techniques. The attack resulted in widespread destruction, approximately 85% of the buildings were destroyed and the death of many civilians, igniting international outrage.

The Peace museum tells the story with the objective of avoiding future wars by exposing it's futility. The displays start off with a very vivid illustration of the devastation from a personal perspective, a single family. You sit in a room to hear all about them, then the bombs fall and the room disintegrates into rubble in front of your eyes; very moving.

The sheer scale of the devastation is emphatically portrayed, a totally defenceless town attacked with relentless determination by wave after wave of German and Italian aircraft. Not content with bombing and setting fire to the buildings, fighters machine gunned the inhabitants as they fled.

It was particularly moving for us, clearly Picasso had experienced this too as he had completed a huge mural nearby to depict the horror of war. Whilst I'm not a great follower of this cubist style of art, we had to be impressed by the commitment he had made to the town.

Today the town has been completely rebuilt with no sign of the original, just a few buildings preserved and a couple of air raid shelters to remind those of today what it had been like in 1937.

The central area is composed of trees, flower beds, grass and fountains, the impression is of peace and prosperity. Indeed the Town does appear to be prosperous due to the number of visitors that frequent the many bars and restaurants nearby. It was pleasant to sit out in the sunshine enjoying lunch whilst reflecting on the significance of history.


Naturally everything was closed until 4pm so not wanting to stay too late we returned to Bermeo fairly early after sketching some street scenes. That evening we relaxed in the bars near the port which were even more busy than the night before as it was Saturday, we assumed that people came here for the weekend. Everyone spoke in Spanish, as we had to. We ate in a popular Taverna, more excellent seafood and good local wine, not as posh as earlier but with more of a party atmosphere. They knew how to enjoy themselves!

The following morning it was time to return to Bilbao, wait interminably in queues to board the ferry and sail home. The weather was kind to us, no equininoctural storms in the Bay of Biscay, a bit cloudy but little rain. We knew what to expect so we reflected on a wonderful trip, stuck our noses in a book and let the miles pass by.




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