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Descobreix les mil cares de Dalí
Descobreix les mil cares de Dalí
Plan of the shelter on the esplanade of the El Jardí Theatre-Cinema, of the Local Passive Defence Board (JLDP) of Figueres, 1938 (AHF)
“People of Figueres […]. Shelters must be built, and they must be built immediately.”
Manifesto of the Figueres Local Passive Defence Board (JLDP), 10 February 1938 (BPF)
The need for protection was present from the beginning of the war, but action did not materialise until the bombings and deaths arrived. The airstrikes spurred the Local Passive Defence Board (JLDP) to intensify the construction of passive [i.e. anti-aircraft] defence works, but to do so they needed resources. The Passive Defence Board (JDP) of Catalonia helped, but the financial burden fell on the city’s residents.
The work that required the most resources was air raid shelters. With the available means, which were never many, and against the clock, the JLDP built five of them.
In this space, under the current Josep Pla Square, an underground shelter was planned with two zigzagging galleries connected by a central corridor, with natural ventilation thanks to its four entrances. The galleries were excavated, the external earth protection was piled up and the entrances were finished, but the cladding was not completed.
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