Normally when I come to Spain, I usually fly and in and out of Madrid but I don’t normally spend a lot of time in the city because I’ve been here before and mainly spent a little extra time here to explore El Escorial. I visited this impressive royal palace, monastery, pantheon, library and more a long time ago. Although I was impressed, I was ignorant to the true historical significance of the place. So for me, spending an extra couple of nights in Madrid was all about seeing the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial again, the Valley of the Fallen and eating as much Gambas al Ajillo, shrimp cooked in olive oil with red chili peppers and garlic, as I could. 

El Escorial was conceived by King Philip II who wanted a building to serve multiple purposes like a burial place for his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, a monastery, royal palace, pantheon, library and more. Construction of El Escorial began in 1563 and ended in 1584.

Located about 28 miles or 45 kilometers northwest of Madrid, El Escorial is considered the largest Renaissance building in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Five miles or so away from El Escorial is the Basilica of The Valley of the Fallen cut into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, this stunning yet controversial monument built by the fascist dictator Francisco Franco is at the center of Spain’s ongoing national reckoning with its past. Inside, the monument, carved into the mountain, is the resting place for some 33,000 Spainards who died in Spain’s Civil War (1936-1939).

And, last but not least, I feasted on Gambas al Ajillo at La Casa del Abuelo. This is one of my most favorite dishes to eat when I come to Spain and now this restaurant has become one of my favorites too. Here’s to the the stunning El Escorial, the Valley of the Fallen and my time in Madrid.

The Valley of the Fallen

The Valley of the Fallen, only seven miles away from El Escorial, is a Spanish monumental complex built between 1940 and 1958 by forced labor from  political prisoners. It is synonymous with Francisco Franco, the fascist Spanish dictator who overthrew Spain’s Republic during the Spanish Civil War and ruled Spain from the end of its bloody Civil War in 1939 until his death in 1975. He ordered the memorial  mausoleum to be built. 

The war left behind widespread destruction of Spain’s infrastructure, severe economic decline, mass casualties among civilians due to aerial bombardments, widespread displacement of people and a deep societal divide caused by the brutal political polarization between the opposing sides. The Nationalists under General Francisco Franco and the Republicans under Francisco Largo Caballero and, later, Juan Negrín fought in the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalists were supported by Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany. The victory of the Nationalist forces under Franco established a repressive dictatorship that further impacted Spanish society for decades.

The monument was literally built inside a dynamited-out mountain over 19 years using paid workers and the forced labor of Republican prisoners during Franco’s regime, which adds to the negative perception of the site. There are more than 33,000 bodies within its eight crypts of both Republican and Nationalist soldiers, but the most controversial burial was Franco’s from his death in November 1975 until his exhumation on Oct. 24, 2019 following a long and controversial legal process due to the removal of all public honors of his dictatorship.

According to most estimates, around 500,000 people died during the Spanish Civil War, including both soldiers and civilians, making it a very deadly conflict.