Centre d’Estudis de la Batalla de l’Ebre


About 35km north of Tortosa in Gandesa, this excellent modern museum presents a balanced account of the Spanish Civil War and the decisive 1938 Ebro Valley battle through a host of artefacts, photographs and interactive maps. Recreations of battlefield conditions portray the grim reality of trench warfare, while moving video interviews (Catalan only; translations due in 2018) bear witness to enduring scars.

The civil war only lasted three years (1936–39) but its effects linger well into the present. You'd be hard-pressed to find a family in Catalonia, or indeed Spain, that hasn’t been affected by the conflict. The largest battle of the war was fought in the Ebro Valley, leading to the destruction of the town of Corbera, and a crushing defeat of the Republicans; some 20,000 people lost their lives.

The Pacto del Olvido (Pact of Forgetting) after Franco’s death in 1975 meant that the victims of the dictatorship remained silent about past abuses until the last few years, in a country where there has not been any formal postwar reconciliation.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Catedral del Vi

4.65 MILES

This Modernista beauty, 28km north of Tortosa, is the 1922 work of Gaudí disciple Cèsar Martinell. Its tile-striped, redbrick facade and soaring vaulted…

2. Castell de Miravet

8.21 MILES

Southern Catalonia's finest castle was built in the 11th century by the Moors, conquered by the Christians in the 1150s before being given to the Templars…

3. Museu de Tortosa

17.02 MILES

Within a splendid blue Modernista building, decorated with white checkerboard designs, lies Tortosa's modern, minimalist town museum. The 1908 building is…

4. Jardins del Príncep

17.03 MILES

In the grounds of a former 19th-century spa, this carefully manicured sculpture garden is a thought-provoking and uplifting place to explore. The broadly…

5. Castell de la Suda

17.11 MILES

Looming high above the old town, Tortosa's 10th-century fortress is a maze of unfinished stairways, trails to nowhere, and spectacular lofty views, now…

6. Catedral de Santa Maria

17.14 MILES

Built between 1347 and the mid-18th century on the site of a Romanesque predecessor, this Gothic cathedral seizes attention with its many turrets,…

7. Clos Mogador

19.74 MILES

A five-minute walk southwest of Gratallops, Clos Mogador is one of Priorat's outstanding wineries, founded in 1979 by pioneering French winemaker René…

8. Buil & Giné

20.37 MILES

Perched on a hilltop 2km north of Gratallops, Buil & Giné produces a range of Montsant DO and Priorat DOQ wines (plus Rueda and Toro DO wines in Castilla…