Elena Gocmen Rueda
AN artillery shell dropped by planes during Spain’s Civil War has been uncovered during building works on a ‘refugio’ at Llevant Natural Park in Spain’s Mallorca.
The Guardia Civil specialist bomb disposal unit TEDAX was called in after construction workers found what appeared to be an old projectile while carrying out renovations in the S’Arenalet de Aubarca, near Arta on the eastern coast of the Balearic island.
The team carefully lifted out the 105 milimetre munition and delicately carried it to 50 metres to the beach where they carried out a controlled explosion.
The force released a statement on the find and used it to remind the public what to do if they came across such an artefact.
“Anyone who finds any type of explosive device must not attempt to touch it, move it or examine it,” the Guardia Civil said in a statement.
“While it may seem harmless, there is a possibility that it contains explosives within.
“Notify the police immediately by calling 062.”
The find came just a fortnight after a similar bomb was discovered on a building site in a town near Zaragoza. That unexploded shell came to light after a resident in his nineties remembered it falling when he was just a small boy during the Spanish Civil War.
He warned the new owner of the building to be careful when undertaking renovations as an unexploded bomb lay hidden beneath the concrete floor.
Last year alone, Tedax units across Spain detonated a total of 145 unexploded bombs dating from the Civil War.
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