The Panzerturms on the eastern border between Spain and France and a crashed DC-6 plane

@ElentirENG ES 8·25·2024 · 21:09 0

The border area between Spain and France is a very attractive place for explorers of abandoned military-themed sites.

The remains of a Czechoslovakian tank in the French-Spanish border bunkers
One of the command posts of the P Line, created to defend Spain during World War II

The always interesting Youtube channel Aventuras Entresierras (don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already so you don't miss out on their content) has published a video travelling to the area of ​​the eastern border between Spain and France, specifically between the French town of Le Perthus, in the department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, and the Spanish town of La Junquera, in the province of Gerona.

In France, the video shows the Fort of Bellegarde (Bellaguarda in Spanish), built in the 17th century, the Military Cemetery of Panissars (also from the 17th century and very well preserved, by the way) and the Tower of Panissars, also called the Tower of the Burots, located near the aforementioned cemetery and built in the 16th century with a dual defensive and customs purpose. In addition, the video shows several Panzerturms, fortified positions built by the Germans in World War II, with a concrete base and the turret of a tank. As you may remember, in 2021 Aventuras Entresierras published a video showing a Panzerturm that still preserves its turret.

From Le Perthus, the video takes us along a mountain route across the border to the uninhabited village of Requesens, in La Junquera, where it shows us the remains of a Douglas DC-6 of the French Civil Protection (now Civil Security), which crashed on 16 July 1986 while it was taking part in the efforts to extinguish a fire that started in Le Perthus. The tragic accident killed all four occupants of the plane, and also caused a new fire.

You can see some screenshots from this video below. It wasn't easy to select them, as there are so many interesting things to see. We start with the Fort de Bellegarde, in Le Perthus, France. It's quite large but somewhat neglected.

The small Panissars Military Cemetery, intended for members of the garrison of the Fort of Bellegarde and their families. In this small, very well-preserved cemetery, 111 people have been buried since its construction, although only 40 graves are visible. Tributes are paid annually to those buried there.

A Panzerturm, without a turret, with the Panissars Tower in the background. This German defensive position was built very close to the border between Spain and France. In the video you can see the interior of the underground bunker of this Panzerturm and other similar positions.

The remains of the French DC-6 that crashed in 1986. The plane, built in 1957 and registered F-ZBBU, crashed due to poor visibility caused by smoke from a forest fire, aggravated by gusts of wind of 100 km/h. It is sad to see that what remains of the plane has been vandalized, with numerous graffiti. This custom is a real scourge in Spain... In the video you can see the interior of the tail section of the plane. In this link you can see what the plane originally looked like and what the remains were like before they were vandalized.