The last front in the Maresme: the battle of Turó del Balís at the end of January 1939

Abstract

The Battle of Turó del Balís is a relatively little-known episode that occurred during the offensive of Catalonia and the military occupation of the coastal Maresme region in the final stages of the Spanish Civil War. Republican troops established a defensive line throughout the hills encompassing the villages of Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, Sant Vicenç de Montalt, and Caldes d'Estrac. The core of the Italian divisional forces of the Blue Arrows encountered strong resistance at Turó del Balís's heights, where the newly formed 77th Republican Division had entrenched itself. Between January 28 and 29, 1939, the two forces fought intense combat accompanied by artillery crossfire until the Republican army retreated towards the new front established up north at the Tordera River. This article explores the historical and spatial context of the battle for the first time. First, it compares the battle with the rest of the Italian campaign through automated text extraction and data visualization from the archival records of the Blue Arrows. Then, it explores the landscape of the battlefield and identifies present-day land use changes that put at risk the preservation of potential material and structural remains associated with the battle. The archaeological study of this space is a primary aim for restoring the Balis episode within the war memory in Catalonia. It becomes a step forward in emphasizing the combative resistance of the Republican army during the defense of the country.