The Orwell Route
The Spanish Civil War had an important battleground in Aragon. The war crossed Monegros County through the Sierra de Alcubierre, which was of great strategic importance, leading to the construction of military and civil defence structures in both the foothills and in the localities of the area.
An initiative of the local government (Comarca de los Monegros), has recovered one of the places in which the British writer George Orwell was assigned during his stay in Spain in 1937, Monte Irazo. Orwell describes in his Homenaje a Cataluña (Homage to Catalonia), an account of his experiences in Spain during the Civil War. In July 1936 during the armed uprising against the Spanish Republic, George Orwell decided to travel to Spain, initially to work as a journalist but circumstances led him to enrol in a Marxist party called the POUM and he ended up spending four months there. Visitors will find the remnants of the Orwell Route very well maintained. From civilian and defence settlements to communication branches, barbed wire fences, a foxhole, an observatory, and one of the trenches is perfectly restored. They may also enjoy a fantastic view that will allow them to travel to a time when George Orwell was an advocate of the Spanish Republic. |
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