Excursion to Guernica during our Spanish courses in Bilbao

On Thursday the 12th May, our Spanish students went on a trip to Guernica, a small village also in the Basque Country. A group of 8 girls went on the trip: Jade, Audrey, Vanessa, Filanding, Anna, Anne, Greta and myself. We took the train and arrived in the Basque village 50 minutes later. The weather was lovely and therefore we were able to make the most of our visit to the town.

We first visited the Museum of Peace, which is closest to the station. The guides took us round the museum and explained everything to us so that we could easily understand their Spanish. The museum focuses on the story of Guernica-Lumo (the full name of the village) and the terrible bombing that it suffered during the Spanish Civil War.

The permanent exhibition handles 3 main themes:
• What is peace?
• What happened in Guernica during one moment of a lapse in the peace?
• What is the current state of peace in today´s world?
The museum is really interesting, well-organised and contains endless photos and documents focusing on the bombardment of the village during the Spanish Civil War.

Afterwards, we went to the Guernica´s Assembly House, which is a historical monument with incredibly important political significance. The heart of the monument is the Tree of Guernica, an oak under which the autonomous government of Biscaya used to meet, and the attached building which used to be the Church of Saint María La Antigua. Nowadays, the building is the seat of the Biscayan government, the highest institutional organisation in the province.

Unfortunately, we didn´t have time to visit the Museum of Basque History but we all thoroughly enjoyed this excursion, during which we learnt a huge amount about the history of the area in which we are staying.

Stéphanie Izard