C4 – DEMOCRACY

POS MOBILITY WORK – 6

PORTUGAL – FILIPA ARAÚJO DA SILVA
CAMILO CASTELO BRANCO HIGH SCHOOL

GUERNIKA, THE PEACE MUSEUM, THE SHELTERS, THE ASSEMBLY

HOUSE AND BERMEO
 2

Filipa Silva | 29.03.2022

‘’ When German soldiers used to come to my studio and look at my pictures of

Guernica, they'd ask 'Did you do this?'. And I'd say, 'No, you did.' ‘’
- Pablo Picasso
 3

Introduction
On the february 24th, the 3rd day of the Erasmus+ Spain mobility, we went to two cities,
Guernica and Bermeo. We started this day tour by going to Guernika and, the first thing we visited
was the Museo de la Paz de Guernica, after that we met a tour guide that explained us everything
about the city, the war and where the bomb shelters were located and, the consequences of the war.
Lastly, we visited the Assembly House. After visiting the city of Guernica we went to Bermeo where
the teachers and students had free time to explore the city and to get to know more about it in an
autonomous way.

Guernica and the Peace Museum Foundation

After the morning activities at the school, we went to the train station and our first stop of the
day was Guernica. This ride took us about 30 minutes and, once we got there, we went right away to
the Peace Museum Foundation in Guernica, or in Spanish, Museo de la Paz de Guernica. At the
museum we got divided into two groups since we couldn’t be all together inside the museum thanks
to the covid-19 restrictions. Inside, we followed the arrows on the floor that led us to various rooms.
The most memorable one was the one that simulated the bombings while you were inside the
‘’house’’, you hear the sirens, the bombs dropping and the screams while everything is pitch black
and, when the light finally goes on you see destruction.

Pic. 1 – the room that simulated the bombings

Another thing on the museum that made me reflect a lot was the corridor with the expositions upstairs,
it had a big wall with the human rights in spanish and vasc and, pictures of revolutions against wars,
protesters, activists, items from these activists and, the last corridor on the museum that had pieces of
 4

bombs from the Guernika bombings and alongside it has personal items from the victims and
paintings reflecting the pain of the war.

pic 2 and 3 - paintings about the bombings on the museum

 5
Pic 4 - The wall with the Human Rights

Shelters in Gernika
After we finished seeing the Museum, we met a tour guide that told us about the bombings,
the bomb shelters and how it affected the city and the country. He started explaining that the bombings
were in the 26th April of 1937 and it was an aerial bombing during the Spanish Civil War. This
bombing was supported by Francisco Franco’s rebel nationalist faction, the Nazi Germany and by the
Italy Fascist regime. This bombing was an operation to help Franco conquer the city of Bilbao and
the northen part of Spain. The number of civilian deaths in this attack wasn’t disclosed and it was
considered a war crime

Pic 5 - picture of the city after the bombings

After giving us a background about the bombings, the guide proceded to show us how the
shelters worked, where it was located and how people evacuated. There are three shelters, the first
and the biggest one is in Santa María Street and this shelter is unfinished but still helped people escape
the bombings, its capacity was 450 people inside but there were more during the bombings. The
second is the Shelter of Pasealekua which was considered the most safe shelter, it is 10 metres deep
and it was basically exclusive for the people that were on the market and local fair. The last shelter
was in the old factory ‘’Talleres de Gernika’’ and it is known as Astra Shelter, inspired by the pistol
Astra 400 that was produced in that factory.
 6

Pic 6 - location of the Astra Shelter

The Assembly House

The Assembly House of Guernica is the most important institucional organ of Bizkaia and it
is located next to the legendary Guernica Oak tree, remembered for being the meeting place for Lords
of Bizkaia during the Middle Age. The original building was built during the 16th century but it was
later rebuilt during the 19th century by the architect Alfonso Echevarría. This Assembly Hall is indeed
the most important Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the plenaries are held there. This entire building
is decorated with a ton of art pieces from different artists and dates, meanwhile keeping the original
church elements of the building like the old portraits and water fonts.
The Oak Tree embodies freedom and privilege and like I stated before, it was a meeting spot
for Lords to discuss everyday questions that needed to be solved. This tree was also used by the
Spanish Regent Maria Christina and by her daughter Queen Isabella II to swear an oath to the charters
in 1839, they were the last monarchs to do this tradition. The tree was also replaced a few times thanks
to things like tree sicknesses and the need to relocate it.
 7

pic. 7 - garden on the right side of the Assembly House

 8
pic. 8 - back garden of the Assembly House

Pic. 8 - One of the rooms inside the Assembly House

 9
Pic. 9 - the glass ceiling of the Assembly House

Bermeo
This city was founded in 1236 and it was the Bizkaia capital from 1476 to 1602. Bermeo is a
coastal city that is specialised in fishing activities and fish preserves.
We had free time in Bermeo and it was around lunch time so a big part of the group went to
eat local food in the restaurants with a view to the sea. After eating, we all got together, walked a
little bit around the town to get to know more about it with the locals and overall, it was an amazing
experience in order to finish our day.

Pic. 10 - streets of Bermeo

Conclusion
These visits were on a very remarkable day, visiting the Peace Foundation Museum and the
bombing shelters on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine definitely made everyone tear up and get
really scared because even though there is a lot of sensibilization of the horrors of the war, the story
repeats itself all over again.
Overall, these visits were not only important to make us learn more about the local history but
also to gain empathy and to grow as citizens of Europe and of the World. Even though this wasn’t
our country's history, we all related to it in some way and made us feel closer to everyone despite our
nationalities and differences.