The Almería City Council has been urged to immediately incorporate coastal batteries, shoreline machine-gun nests, and underground galleries into the project for expanding the Catalog of Protected Buildings and Spaces. This request follows the opening of a public information period for the aforementioned project, aimed at safeguarding the city's historical heritage.
These defensive structures, which served as the last line of military containment and civil protection during the Spanish Civil War, endured numerous bombings. A notable attack was carried out by the German fleet in May 1937.
Within the urban underground, attention is focused on the underground Shelters designed by architect Guillermo Langle. Although a musealized entrance exists at Plaza Manuel Pérez García, objectors warn that peripheral sections and auxiliary access points lack cataloging and risk being permanently sealed due to new residential developments.
Along the coastline, the petition highlights critical geographical points. It demands legal protection for the semi-submerged machine-gun nest between El Toyo and Retamar, the casemate at Playa de las Almoladeras, and bunkers strategically located near the mouth of the Andarax River and opposite the Nueva Almería neighborhood.
Furthermore, the cataloging of the Cerro de la Testa coastal Battery in the Cabo de Gata coastal area is urged. This site preserves command bunkers, concrete barbettes, and powder caves excavated directly into the rock.
The legal basis for this expansion is rooted in the Law 4/2026 on Cultural Heritage of Andalusia. Citizens support their initiative with Article 4, which legitimizes individuals to contribute to the conservation of historical assets, and Article 10, which assigns city councils the direct responsibility for maintaining updated urban inventories.
Through this contribution, the aim is to compel the Local Government Board to rectify the current technical draft and explicitly integrate the defensive belt of Almería's coast and underground into the PGOU-98 protection files.
The Association of Friends of the Alcazaba and the Ciudadanos Municipal Group have also previously expressed interest in the mandatory conservation of these elements.
