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The London School of Economics and Political Science Wartime destruction and post-war urban reconstruction: case studies of Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid in the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath Olivia Munoz-Rojas Oscarsson A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, February 2009 UMI Number: U615484 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615484 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ruac-s C' Bntisfi Library of Political and Economic Science Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. To my parents, Katinka and Rafael, my brother Ivar and Jose Luis. Abstract There are few investigations that consider both the practical and symbolic dimensions of wartime destruction and post-war reconstruction of cities, and almost none that do so for the particular case of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship. This thesis examines the wartime destruction and post-war rebuilding of three prominent sites in Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the first two decades of the Franco regime (1939-1959) from an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersection of history, social and political theory, urban planning, and architecture. The thesis is based on extensive archival material, and includes primary textual sources (military reports, administrative documentation, and official publications), secondary textual sources (press material, political, academic and technical literature, and fiction), and primary visual sources (maps, plans, architectural drawings, and aerial photographs of the sites). The thesis introduces the selected sites as exemplary of three propositions on the relationship between history, political discourse, and the built environment during and in the aftermath of conflict and violent regime change. While Barcelona’s Avinguda de la Catedral demonstrates that wartime destruction can act as a catalyst for urban redevelopment, Bilbao’s bridges exemplify the way that post war reconstruction can be used to mark a change of political regime, and the ruins of Madrid’s Cuartel de la Montana reveal how post-war regimes tend to design ambitious reconstruction plans, which they are not necessarily able to implement. By considering the historical, military, political-administrative, and aesthetic aspects of the destruction and rebuilding of these sites, the thesis proposes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of urban destruction and reconstruction. Acknowledgements There are a number of people whose support in the process of researching and writing this thesis I wish to acknowledge. First, I wish to thank Dr. Fran Tonkiss and Prof. David Frisby for their dedicated, constructive supervision and their help at other, more practical, levels throughout this long and at times difficult journey. I am grateful to Dr Maria Moreno Carranco, Prof. Paul Preston, Dr. Enriqueta Tuiion and the members of the NYLON group for their valuable comments on aspects of my research as well as Rafael Munoz-Rojas for the numerous informal conversations on Spain under Franco that we had over the course of the past three years. I am also thankful to Prof. Richard Sennett and Prof. Mary Vincent for agreeing to examine my thesis. Further, I am indebted to the archivists and librarians who assisted me in my research in Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid. A special mention to the staff at the Arxiu Municipal Administratiu and Arxiu Historic in Barcelona, the Archivo Municipal in Bilbao and the Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid and the Archivo del Ministerio de Fomento in Madrid for their kind and professional approach. I wish to extend my thanks to Jose Luis Alvarez Garcia for his hospitality while staying in Mexico City where I began my writing. Thanks also to my friends Anais Tarrago, Albert Armengol and Natalia Matas for offering their homes while I was undertaking my archival work in Barcelona and to Assumptio Planelles for receiving me at hers and talking to me about the disappeared Barri de la Catedral. A special thanks to Prof. Mauricio Tenorio for his advice and assistance prior to commencing this doctoral programme. Finally, I am grateful for the financial support received from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Economic and Social Research Council and the University of London, which has allowed me to devote more time and energy to completing this thesis than I would otherwise have been able to. Table of Contents Declaration..........................................................................................................................2 Abstract............................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements............................................................................................................5 Table of contents................................................................................................................ 6 List of illustrations...........................................................................................................11 Introduction_________________ ___________________________________________ Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 16 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................................................ 22 Chapter 1 Wartime destruction and post-war reconstruction in perspective______________ 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 27 1.1 Destruction .................................................................................................................28 1.1.1 War and the city ...............................................................................................28 1.1.2 Aerial warfare..................................................................................................31 1.1.3 Terrorism.......................................................................................................... 33 1.1.4 Urbicide .............................................................................................................35 1.2 Reconstruction............................................................................................................38 1.2.1 Reconstruction phases.....................................................................................38 1.2.2 Continuity and change in post-war urban reconstruction.........................39 1.3 Restore, replace or leave in ruins? ..........................................................................45 1. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 2 The challenges of archival research_________________________________________ 2. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 53 2.1 Why archival research? ............................................................................................ 54 2.2 Materials sought........................................................................................................ 55 2.3 The experience in the archives .................................................................................57 2.4 Archives visited, materials collected .......................................................................60 2.4.1 National archives and libraries .....................................................................60 2.4.2 Archives in Barcelona .....................................................................................61 2.4.3 Archives in Bilbao ........................................................................................... 62 6 2.4.4 Archives in Madrid .......................................................................................... 63 2.5 Using the archival material......................................................................................64 2.6 Note on terminology .................................................................................................69 2.