Iron Silence

In July 1936, a military uprising began with the aim of overthrowing the Republican government. The coup failed in a large part of Spanish territory, leading to a division between the Republican side and the rebel faction led by Franco. This fracture gave rise to a long and devastating war that lasted nearly three years.

The coast of Salou was fortified. Cape Salou, a strategic geographical feature for both maritime and aerial navigation, became a sensitive point from which to monitor and repel potential attacks by Francoist forces. Captain Eduardo Medrano was tasked with fortifying the Salou coastline. Construction began in 1936, and many residents of Salou took part in building the defenses.

Interior view of the machine-gun emplacements (2025). Salou Tourism Board

In total, seven machine-gun nests were built within the municipality of Salou: at Punta del Cavall, Punta del Porroig, the Lazaretto, Llevant Beach, the port pier, Ponent Beach and Mas d’en Gran. Two coastal artillery batteries were also constructed, at the Talaia and the Glorieta.

The Porroig machine-gun nest is one of the few that have been preserved and one of the most distinctive. Built directly onto the rock and composed of brick walls and underground concrete galleries, it connects two firing chambers and an ammunition room. Each firing chamber, or nest, has a circular layout, an uncommon design in Catalonia, comparable to those found in Blanes or Mont-roig. Each chamber features three embrasures—one frontal and two lateral—positioned to cover a wide stretch of coastline, from southeast to southwest.

This defensive structure not only reflects the military criteria of its time, but today also stands as a valuable heritage testimony to the military dimension of the conflict in the Catalan rear-guard, and to the memory of a war that profoundly marked the territory.

Further reading:

Cabezas Sánchez, Adrián. La defensa de la costa a la província de Tarragona durant la Guerra Civil (1936–1939). Tarragona: Arxiu del Port de Tarragona, 2017.

Cirera Saló, Maite. “La guerra civil a Salou,” in Estudis de Salou, 1. Recull (1996), pp. 29–44.
Clará, Josep. Els búnquers de la costa catalana. Patrimoni militar en temps de guerra (1936–1939). Col·lecció Camí Ral, no. 35. Barcelona: Rafael Dalmau Editor, 2012.

Otiña Hermoso, Pedro. El camp d’aviació de la Pineda. Agrupació Cultural de Vila-seca, 2013.