The Civil War Scars Madrid Still Carries

Madrid was besieged for nearly three years during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The siege was the first modern urban bombardment -- German and Italian planes tested tactics they'd use in WWII. Shell marks on the Gran Via buildings are still visible. The Bunkers of El Capricho Park served as Republican Army headquarters. The Reina Sofia houses Picasso's Guernica.

The Pact of Forgetting that accompanied Spain's democratic transition chose silence over reckoning. The bullet holes are still in the walls. The conversation about what they mean is still in progress.