All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S12E05.Revolution.in.El.Paso.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

A derelict compound in Texas,

once the epicenter
of a violent revolution.

It was exciting,
but it was also dangerous.

Bullets were flying.

Artillery shells
were going off.

They had front row seats
to this amazing battle.

A top secret facility
outside Berlin

used by a ruthless dictator
to escape justice.

This place should've lost
all relevance,

but it had
one final dramatic mission
to carry out.

And an aristocratic
party palace

that became an IRA stronghold.

The women
would use these statues,

these symbols
of colonial oppression

as target practice.

In downtown El Paso, Texas,

a hollow construction
holds a revolutionary history.

It's a very attractive,
stately old building.

But once you go inside,

it's a pretty sad state
of affairs.

There's wires hanging out
of the ceiling.

Windows are taken out
of their frames
and stacked up.

Nearby,
right next to the freeway

which straddles the border,

a second abandoned building

was embroiled in the same
dramatic struggle.

It's a huge warehouse-style
building.

It looks like
it might've once been

a small industrial operation
of some kind.

The rooftop is
a prime vantage point

to look right across
the border

into the neighboring
Mexican city of Juarez.

And if you look closely,

you'll see that there's damage
on the walls.

Pivotal in the birth
of the Mexican state,

these bullet holes
are remnants of a time

when El Paso was caught
in violent crossfire.

So, the question is,
how are these two buildings...

This one here on the border,
this one here in the city,

how are they connected?

These buildings might look
a little forlorn today.

But there was a time
when this town was a hotbed
of international intrigue.

From here,
a revolution was planned

and a war was launched,

while citizens watched
from their rooftops,

El Paso
was once Spanish territory.

But it became part
of the United States

when America annexed Texas
in 1845.

It began as a trading post,

and became one of the most

important points of contact
between US and Mexico.

Between 1890 and 1910,

the population of El Paso
quadruples.

You see this explosive growth

as kind of a window
on America's southern border

in an outlet and an inlet
for trade.

This once ornate structure

was born during
that early prosperity.

Richard Caples
was a former mayor of El Paso

and kind of a local big shot.

He had big plans for the city
and wanted to help it grow.

Construction began
on this building in 1909.

It was planned as a five story
office building

with retail
on the ground floor.

It was built
at tremendous cost.

A $135,000 at the time,

which works out to be
$4.5, $5 million today.

This is the Caples building,
named after its owner.

It was still
under construction

when the abandoned warehouse
half a mile away

hosted an iconic meeting
of presidents.

The gathering took place out
front of the El Paso Laundry,

which sits
right on the border.

There was a historic
international meeting

between Mexican president
Porfirio Diaz

and American president
William Taft.

This was an important
turning point

in Mexican American relations.

People crowded
around this street.

There was a lot of pomp,
a lot of ceremony.

Viva Taft, viva Diaz,

viva Mexico,
viva the United States.

David Dorado Romo

understands the subtext
of this event.

There seemed to be a lot
of agreement and harmony,

but that was just
for public show.

Diaz was really the archetype
of a corrupt dictator.

He maintained his power
by crushing dissent,

not really allowing
the free press,

favoring certain elites.

He was also known
to be in the pocket

of big American businesses.

In El Paso,

Diaz was seeking to further
cement American support

along the border in the run
up to a crucial election.

His rival was intent
on bringing democracy
to Mexico,

something Diaz
had no intention of allowing.

Diaz had thrown his main
political opponent,

a formidable a man by the name
of Francisco Madero,

in jail
during the proceedings.

Madero actually had managed
to escape from prison,

and he headed across
the border to El Paso.

At that time,
that wasn't a major division.

There was no barbed wire.
There was no fence.

Mexicans could cross freely.

So, Madero snuck into El Paso
disguised as a laborer,

and took up residence
on the top two floors

of the newly completed
Caples building.

He made it the epicenter
of his endeavors,

and he really
only had one goal.

And that was to violently
overthrow the Diaz regime.

So, on this floor,

the international headquarters
of the Mexican Revolution

was situated in early 1911.

So, this was a place
that would have served

for diplomatic,
administrative,

but also arms smuggling
and, of course, recruitment.

Madero even managed
to gain the support

of legendary Mexican
revolutionary Poncho Villa,

which earned him
some significant clout.

With an open border,

these headquarters
were at the heart
of an explosion of activity.

El Paso then really became
this hub

of different
revolutionary groups

who all set up shop
in different bars,

restaurants and buildings
throughout the city.

Despite Madero
advocating democracy,

the US government
eventually issued a warrant
for his arrest.

But in reality,
just like American
big business,

they turned a blind eye

as they waited to see how
the chaos would play out.

During my research,
I found more than 80 buildings

that are still standing here
in El Paso

that have connections
to the Mexican Revolution.

There was probably hundreds,
if not thousands of spies.

A lot of people
have compared El Paso

to East and West Berlin
during the Cold War.

You had Madero
and his associates plotting,
raising money,

building support.

Diaz had his spies
gathering information.

No one really knew
who was on what side
or who you could trust.

And it was all building
to a truly violent conflict.

April 7th, 1911,
Madero made his move.

Madero leads an army
into the city of Juarez

to launch this re-conquest
of Mexico

from the dictatorship of Diaz.

Madero had put together
a force of 2500 men.

But Juarez was well defended
by 700 Mexican federal troops,

who were in a very good
defensive position.

They had artillery,
they had plenty of weapons.

Madero was happy
to just call it a stalemate

and start negotiating.

But one notorious gunslinger
in the rebel's ranks

had come for a fight.

The time for talking was over.

2
In 1911,

the Caples building served
as the headquarters

of Mexican revolutionary
Francisco Madero,

as he launched an assault
on the city of Juarez

just across the border.

Damage to the roofs
of buildings across El Paso

are testament to the chaos
that followed.

While Madero sought
to negotiate a surrender,

the more aggressive
Pancho Villa disobeyed orders.

He went ahead
and led his troops
on the attack,

and a raging battle commenced.

In the city of El Paso,
this was very exciting.

They were right on the border.

People climbed to the rooftop
of the laundry building,

where they had front row seats
to this amazing battle.

So, this was one of many
rooftops in El Paso

where people would stand
on top.

There were some
where you would have to pay
a quarter to a dollar

to watch
the revolutionary scenes.

They were treated
to a spectacle

straight out of the Wild West.

One story is that
one moment,

one of the federal soldiers
dropped his gun.

And one of the revolutionaries

got out his lariat
and lassoed the guy.

He was able to,
like a Mexican cowboy,

bring him in together
with his gun.

And people on the rooftops
started applauding,

just like if it were
some kind of ringside seat.

But it ended up
becoming a much more deadly,
spectator sport.

These citizens
didn't realize how close
they were to the danger,

and five were killed
and 18 wounded in El Paso

from fighting
that was taking place
in Juarez.

Today we just let the,

the newscasters
take that danger.

Back then,
everybody wanted to be part
of the act.

So, these the bullet holes

actually have
a lot more significance
than meets the eyes.

They were part of the story
of the Mexican Revolution.

Eventually,
after two days
of intense fighting,

the Juarez garrison
was forced to surrender.

This battle of Juarez
became the decisive battle
of the revolution.

It was enough to show
that the forces loyal to Diaz

could not control
the revolutionary troops.

Diaz fled Mexico,

leaving its leadership
up for grabs.

Madero eventually
came to power in late 1911,

but he proved
to be too moderate.

By 1913,

another Mexican general
led a US-backed coup,

and unfortunately,
Madero died
in the resulting conflict.

What initially
was a relatively bloodless
revolution

is going to become 10 years
of incredible civil strife.

And you're gonna have
hundreds of thousands
of Mexican refugees

crossing to United States.

David's grandparents
were among them.

America's role
in the revolution

was a sign of things to come.

That's a story
that's going to repeat itself

for decades in Latin America,

where you have US
military intervention,

or you have the CIA overthrow,

democratically elected
governments.

And as a result,
you're gonna have
social chaos,

people fleeing
into the United States.

While the laundry
would continue to operate

for many more years,

the Caples building endured
long periods of vacancy,

before both
were eventually abandoned.

These structures are symbolic

of tensions that remain
along the border to this day.

But a developer has purchased
both properties

and hopes to transform them
into apartment buildings.

If that happens,

the future residents
can certainly claim

that they live in a location
of historic intrigue.

In eastern Germany,
just 25 miles from Berlin,

a secretive complex
lies hidden in the woods.

The forest that
we are driving through

was a restricted area
until 1994.

Looking at the security
around this place,

this must have been
one of the most
closely guarded places

in all of East Germany.

If you came here,
you risked the threat
of the death penalty.

As you delve deeper
into the heart of the site,

its scale becomes apparent.

We can see here that nature
has reclaimed something

and it has reclaimed
something big.

You see a collection
of buildings

that could house a,
a city of thousands.

But as with any ghost town,

you have to ask yourself
what happened
to all the people?

You go inside, cobwebs, trash,
crumbling masonry,

tumble down structures
that are fading or flecked
or graffitied.

But through the thick foliage,

a different style of structure
begins to emerge.

We've got something
that's boarded up,

and yet you can tell
what it is.

This is a control tower.
This is an airfield.

There's one massive building
near the runways,

clearly an aircraft hangar.

This facility
would provide shelter

and an escape route
for a ruthless dictator

desperately fleeing justice.

Sven-Uwe Storm grew up nearby

and was always eager
to understand

why this site
was out of bounds.

The area was very large,
yet fenced off with a wall.

It was a no-go area.

And access is still forbidden,

due to the high risk
of unexploded ordinance.

That's because this location
has a long history

as a weapons test site,
which began in the late 1800s.

We are standing here
on an area

that has been
under artillery fire
for decades.

There are a lot of shells
in the ground.

This was a place
where they tested

rifles, artillery, rockets.

And this was a place
where Werner von Braun,

the father of German rocketry
came to test his missiles,

They even conducted
experiments on uranium

for a German atomic bomb.

But in April 1945,

Soviet troops
were rapidly approaching
through these thick forests,

as the allies
closed in on Berlin.

In the aftermath
of the Second World War,

this complex was incorporated
into Soviet territory.

Germany was carved up
among the victorious allies,

with the Soviets
occupying East Germany.

They split Germany
with the Western powers.

But they also split
the city of Berlin,

which is inside
the Soviet zone.

Initially just a line
drawn on a map.

in time, it would become
a physical wall,

as the two camps polarized
along ideological lines.

The formation
of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization

or NATO in 1949,

was seen by the Soviets
as a hostile act.

West Germany joined NATO
in 1955,

and Khrushchev formed
the Warsaw Pact in response.

So, now you have these two
opposing alliances,

one western, one Eastern,

and it feels like things
are hotting up.

And for the Soviets,

this is the front line
in the clash

with the Western powers
in the Cold War.

With a 1000 miles
separating Moscow from Berlin,

this location was earmarked
to supply that frontline.

This is Sperenberg Airfield.

The key link
between East Germany
and the Soviet Union.

During the first phase
of construction in 1958,

the site was converted
into a military airfield

capable of handling
huge transport planes.

Anything that the Soviets
were bringing into Germany

to prepare to fight
against NATO

came into this airport.

In the 1960s,

the boundary dividing Berlin
was fortified

by the East German government.

Desperate to prevent
its citizens

from fleeing
into West Germany,

they installed guard towers

and ordered any escapees
to be shot and killed.

Overseeing its construction
was Erich Honecker,

and he soon
turned his attention
to Sperenberg airbase.

Honecker was one
of the key people

in building the Berlin Wall.

A ruthless dictator

who subjected
all of East Germany
to his unquestioned rule.

Honecker
and the Soviet Army

initiated a new phase
of construction at Sperenberg,

turning it
into a military airbase

of unparalleled proportions.

And it would come
to Honecker's rescue

when his enemies
were circling.

2
During the Cold War,
Sperenberg was turned

into the mightiest
Soviet air base
in East Germany,

under the leadership
of ruthless dictator
Erich Honecker.

The real expansion
is in the 1970s.

when you see Soviet bombers,
Soviet fighters,

Soviet combat helicopters,

and lots
of Soviet civilian airliners

that are shuttling personnel.

It was the fastest
and most direct link

between Berlin and Moscow.

And the only Red Army airport

that also had
a civilian terminal building

for use by families,

as well as musicians
brought in
for troop entertainment.

Five thousand people
had to be accommodated here.

Children from kindergarten
to school, cinemas and shops,

The Sperenberg base
became the most valuable

military airfield
in East Germany.

There's no doubt about that.

But just as
Sperenberg had gone
through a major upgrade,

the Soviet's iron grip
of East Germany
began to loosen.

Numerous pro-independence
groups began to form

as people demanded things

like democratic elections,
freedom of speech,

and the withdrawal
of Soviet troops.

Honecker refused
to shift his ground at all

and kept insisting that using
the security service,

the Stasi,
which had informers everywhere

and thousands of agents,

that he would just repress
all dissent in East Germany.

And he nearly pulled it off.

East Germans
were one of the last
Warsaw Pact nations to rebel.

The Berlin Wall
was being ripped down

by Berliners East and West.

As the Soviet Union
began the mammoth task

of withdrawing 360,000 troops
and their families

from across Eastern Europe,

the new government
brought charges
against Honecker.

As East Germany frees itself
from the one party control,

the hunt is on
for these creatures
of the communist regime,

chief among them, Honecker.

Everybody knew that Honecker
had approved orders

for East German border guards
to shoot, to kill,

if anybody tried to escape
East Germany.

That meant that Honecker
had a noose around his neck.

On the run
and desperate to avoid
a show trial,

Honecker turned
to his overlords in Moscow.

The last thing anybody needs

is a trial
with Erich Honecker,

talking about the truth
of the East German
communist regime.

So, Sperenberg
throughout this period
is in Soviet hands

as they shuttle people home,
using this airbase.

You know, hundreds
of thousands of Soviet troops,

and family, that were
housed in East Germany.

So, in March 1991,
Soviet communists

see an opportunity
to spirit Honecker
out of East Germany.

Under
the cover of darkness,

he was brought to Sperenberg
by Soviet troops.

We are in the former
reception building

of the VIP lounge.

This is the actual living area
of Erich Honecker,
and Margot Honecker.

The personal security
would have been very tense
during that time.

The couple,
then boarded a plane
on the airstrip,

right beside the building,
destined for Moscow.

Honecker was later
extradited from Russia
to stand trial in Berlin,

appearing in court
in November 1992.

Honecker was defiant
until the end,

claiming that the Berlin Wall
had saved lives,

that it prevented
World War III,

which would have
killed millions.

The trial
was quickly abandoned

due to his
deteriorating health,

and he died two years later.

At that point in 1994,

the last of
the Soviet equipment
and people

were still being moved
out of Sperenberg.

But since then, the site
has remained abandoned,

and largely untouched.

Local residents have formed
a museum association,
offering guided tours,

and are pushing
for the 2,000 acre complex

to become a UNESCO
World Heritage site.

In the Republic of Ireland

lie the remains
of a doomed vanity project.

We're in County Carlo,
an hour south of Dublin,

in a wet and windy
Irish countryside.

One structure,
casts a long shadow

over the surrounding
landscape.

When you first
see the building,

you almost can't believe
it's still standing.

The place has
been hollowed out,

but the walls
are still intact.

It's got the parapets
and battlements
of a medieval castle.

Anybody looking up
at this tower would realize

that these people
were in charge.

In charge of their lives
and in charge
of their destiny.

But the owners
of this residence,

felt the ground shifting
under their feet.

The building once
housed a powerful
and influential family,

but a tide of change
was coming to Ireland,

and this place was caught
in the middle of it.

It went from
an aristocratic party palace

to an IRA stronghold.

But one organization
took up residence here,

whose role
in Irish independence

has been almost
entirely forgotten.

2
It's really a privilege
to have this at our doorstep,

and lots of people in Carlow
don't actually know
that it's here.

Danny McDaid
has dedicated much of his time
to researching this site

and dispelling
the many myths
that surround it.

When you look upon
this house, now,
you see a ruin,

a Gothic mansion which has
suffered horrendous damage.

But for me,
looking upon it,

I see life.
I see what it was.

This
is Duckett's Grove,

historical home
of the Duckett family.

The Ducketts were married into
the Protestant elites,

and moved to Ireland

during the years
of English plantation,
and colonization.

With the marriages
that they made,

and the money that they made,

they built
the Georgian style house,

a very square, basic house.

But then, in the 1820s,

the Duckett family starts
to massively expand it

and makes it into this
Gothic dreamland castle.

The family
had a reputation

that matched
the extravagance
of the building.

The last
of the Duckett line

was a man named
William Duckett,

and he was known
as quite the eccentric,
quite a philanderer.

He married a much,
much younger woman.

Maria Duckett
and William Duckett

liked nothing more
than to party.

They loved a good party.

And then William Duckett,
would've ran downstairs

to play the organ
to welcome the people in.

Some of the parties
would have lasted for days.

During
the Irish famine,

Protestant William Duckett,
extended his generosity

to residents
across the county,
regardless of their faith.

He was generally well-liked
for a British landlord.

He provided food
for the work houses
and paid good wages.

Here in Carlow,
the death rate
during the famine

was less than
in other counties,
in part due to Mr. Duckett.

But,
while he offered charity
to his Catholic neighbors,

his wife, Maria,
a staunch Protestant,
held a different attitude,

one born of bigotry
and paranoia.

She felt that she was
way above everybody else.

She had almost a disdain
for local people.

She had
a big distrust

and probably
a big fear of Catholics.

She was always
looking over her shoulder

at her Catholic staff
and the grounds workers.

Anti-British
and anti-Protestant sentiment
was sweeping Ireland,

stoking Maria's fears.

And that was soon
compounded by the death
of her husband.

William Duckett
died in 1908.

But when he died,
this house died with him.

Maria Duckett
stopped all the parties.

She fell out
with some of her neighbors.

So, for eight years,
Maria Duckett,
lead a very solitary life.

And her worst fears
were soon realized.

In April 1916,
Irish Republicans launched

an armed insurrection
against British rule,

known as the Easter Rising.

You can only imagine.
If she was paranoid before,

this must have felt like
the end of the world.

She believed that
she'd be rounded up
and be killed.

So, she packed it all in,
abandons Duckett's Grove,
and leaves for England.

The house
became vulnerable,

as the newly formed
Irish Republican Army
prowled the countryside.

In their fight
for independence,

the IRA targeted
big houses like this,

which stood
as a symbol of
British colonial oppression.

Between just
1919 and 1923,

the IRA looted and burned
almost 300

of these country mansions
across Ireland.

But,
William Duckett's lasting
reputation in the county

ensured a different fate
for his grand house.

Because they had supplied food
into Carlow during the famine,

and because they had
kept employment high,

the local people asked the IRA
not to burn Duckett's Grove.

Instead,
the Army devised a use
for the sprawling mansion,

that would grant it
a new life.

It's practically
already a fortress.

You've got
these walled gardens
where you can garrison troops.

There's this giant tower
where you can see

everywhere from over
a hundred miles.

The property
was turned into
an IRA training center.

Soon, three new arrivals
would make their mark
on the mansion.

During the Irish War
for Independence,

three women were locked up
in the Mountjoy Prison
in Dublin.

Mae Burke, Eithne Coyle,
and Linda Kerns.

They were
imprisoned for various
Republican activities,

trading guns, possessing
seditious materials,

generally aiding
the revolution.

What happened next
made international headlines.

And their story's straight out
of the great escapes
of World War II.

They fashioned
ropes and ladders,
and they escaped.

When they broke out
of Mountjoy jail in Dublin,

they stole bicycles,

and they cycled from Dublin
to Duckett's Grove.

The escape plan
was orchestrated
by Michael Collins,

the IRA's director
of intelligence.

Three of the women
cycled the 50 miles

to find the previously
abandoned mansion,
transformed.

It was now
a fully-fledged IRA base,

occupied by 400 men.

The women
quickly set about
getting the camp in order.

They set up an Officers Mess,

nursed the wounded
back to health,

and even organized concerts
to keep up morale.

But
they weren't just here
to support the troops.

They were part
of what was known
as Cumann na mBan.

Cumann na mBan was
the Irish Republican's
women's association.

They were at the heart
of the rebellion in Ireland.

They ran guns.

They supplied intelligence.

They worked in Dublin Castle,

supplying Michael Collins
with information.

But
the War of Independence

would soon turn
into a bloody civil war.

As the IRA fractured,
Collins was struck down
by his former comrades.

2
In October 1921,

three women from the Irish
Independent Army

escaped prison
and fled to Duckett's Grove,

an abandoned mansion
converted into an IRA base.

The escape was
orchestrated by IRA leader,
Michael Collins.

They used
Duckett's Grove

as a command control center

for operations
against the British.

You might see,
in old paintings,

that there were statues once,

covering the grounds
of Duckett's Grove.

But most of them are gone now.

The women would
use these statues,

these symbols
of colonial oppression,
as target practice,

blowing them to smithereens.

One particular photo
of the women survives.

Rifles in hand,

standing triumphantly
in the door of the house,

with the Union Jack
firmly under their boots.

In December 1921,

the Anglo-Irish Treaty
was signed by Michael Collins,

and the IRA training grounds
were dissolved.

But the treaty
partitioned the island

into the largely
Protestant north

and the predominantly
Catholic south,

which would be named
the Irish Free State.

Its status was somewhere
between a province
of the British Empire

and an independent republic.

Collins knew
this was a compromise

many of his comrades
wouldn't abide,

and reportedly said,

"I may have just signed
my actual death warrant."

This prophecy came true
just months later,

as the IRA split in two,

and he was assassinated
by anti-treaty forces.

Ireland was plunged
into a terrible civil war.

Brother against brother.

After that,
the fledgling Irish state
needed money,

so they were selling off lands

belonging to these big houses
all across Ireland.

And Duckett's Grove
was no different.

The mansion was sold
and its contents
auctioned off.

Stripped of its
original grandeur,

it then suffered
further humiliation

when it was
consumed by fire.

I believe
the cause of the fire

was financial,
for the insurance or taxes.

Because the bigger the house,

the more taxes
people had to pay.

And if a house
didn't have a roof,
you didn't pay taxes.

But this magnificent house
was left in ruins

in 1933.

Many big houses
in Ireland remain derelict.

But the work of volunteers,
like Danny,

has opened Duckett's Grove
up to the public.

The building is wonderful,

but it's the story
behind the building,

it's the people that
truly bring it to life.

The role
of the women's army

is becoming more
widely acknowledged,

but the full scope
of their activities
may never be known.

As they grew older,

the women who had participated
in revolutionary activities

were very secretive and silent
about their role.

So, sadly, because no one
documented what women did,

'cause of patriarchy,

we'll probably never know
the full extent of their role
in the revolution.

In a secluded region
of western Spain,

a peninsula juts out over
a vast, shimmering lake.

We're about
180 miles west of Madrid.

It's a beautiful area,
a glorious green landscape.

It's picturesque,
it's peaceful.

It's like something
out of a fairy tale.

Except that there's not
a single soul to be seen.

This
imposing ghost town

displays all the hallmarks
of an ancient stronghold.

The whole town
is protected by
this high stone wall,

and it's even got its own,
kind of, castle tower
near the gates, guarding it.

Within the walls,
the town is laid out around

a large central plaza,

which is bounded
by grand townhouses
and civic buildings.

You can imagine
that this place was once
bustling with life,

but not anymore.

It's a classic
frozen-in-time scenario.

Everyone just up and vanished.

There's general decay.

But no big, obvious clue

as to what caused
this abandonment.

Not many people
are left

to keep alive the story
of what happened here.

But sisters,
Vicenta and Rosario,
are some of the last,

and recall
a vibrant community.

We're in the town square.

We used to come here
to dance at the fiestas.

And as children,
we used to come here to play.

The square
has been a focal point
since medieval times,

when the town
adopted its name.

Granadilla.

The walls went up
in the 12th century.

A couple of 100 years later,
the imposing castle was added.

By the 20th century,

this town was home
to over 1000 inhabitants.

It had evolved
over more than a millennium,

into a bustling community
with 300 family homes.

Oh, what a thrill
to see my house.

How exciting!

Though she was young,

Vicenta still fondly
recalls family life

in her now ruined home.

You entered a courtyard,

and on the right,
there was a kitchen
with a small fireplace.

We would sit by the fire,

and my mother would
tell us stories at night.

Life here was
rooted in agriculture.

My father had three farms,

and he had 25 olive trees.

We picked the olives,
and we took them to the mill.

And then, we also
had some chickens.
We had eggs.

We had a little donkey,

and we would go to the river
to fetch water.

But in 1955,

Vicenta's childhood
was shattered.

This ancient town

was about to have
the life sucked out of it.

2
In the 1950s, sisters Vicenta
and Rosario

enjoyed an idyllic childhood

in the Spanish town
of Granadilla.

But their home was about
to be stolen away,

thanks to a dictator
who came to prominence
in the 1930s.

The Civil war was brutal,

a bloody and violent conflict

that claimed hundreds
of thousands of lives.

General
Francisco Franco,

aided by his fascist allies,
Adolf Hitler
and Benito Mussolini,

emerged as leader in 1939.

But the country
had torn itself apart.

Poverty,
poor housing, disease,

drought, and famine,
were rife.

The challenges
that Spain faced

must have seemed
insurmountable.

Essentially, Franco needed

to turn around
the battle-scarred
country's fortunes.

So, one of the approaches
that General Franco took

was to back these vast
civil engineering projects.

Central to this plan,
was advances in irrigation.

Over 600 dams were built
between 1939 and 1975.

This was construction
on an immense scale.

The largest
of these hydroelectric dams

was to be in the Alagon river,

just 24 miles from Granadilla.

In 1955,

officials declared the town
a flood zone,

and ordered its inhabitants
to evacuate.

When they told us
we had to leave,

people were very upset.

And where could we go?

We had never left the village.

Some began leaving.

But to force
the remainder out,

the government declared
that the land,

including the town
and the farms,

would become state property,

and insisted that
not even a chair
be left behind.

When
they forced us to leave,

of course,
they compensated us,

but they paid us very little.

And my father, as he
had three young daughters,

they didn't give him a house

because the girls
couldn't work in the fields.

So, he was left with nothing.

Can you imagine what
that must have felt like?

Just to be told to get up
and leave

what had been
your family's home
for generations?

It must have been
absolutely devastating.

The situation here
was far from unique.

The same approach
was being taken
to towns and villages

right across Spain,

to make way for these
grand infrastructure projects.

In 1963,
the dam was complete,

and the floodgates
opened on Granadilla.

Well, at first it was flooded
little by little.

It flooded
the land underneath.

And those that had
sheep and cattle

found that
they had all drowned.

It completely altered
the surrounding landscape.

These roads that used
to lead into this town,
kind of,

slipped beneath
the rising tide.

And the bridge was covered.

The oil mill
was covered by water.

The wheat mill
was covered, too.

But there would be
a cruel twist to this tale.

The rising waters
turned the hill,
on which the town sat,

into a kind of peninsula.

But that's as high
as the water got.

The town was
completely cut off.

It was surrounded.

But the town itself
never actually flooded.

This was the plan all along,

and engineers would have known
that the town wouldn't flood.

In the end, it was
either bureaucratic blunder

or bureaucratic deception.

Either way,
for the people there,

what happened
was unforgivable.

People took it very badly.

We're a bit calmer now,

but there's still
a lot of anger

because we had to
leave our village.

The key question here is

is why hasn't
anyone come back?

We asked for the houses
to be given back to us,

but of course,
as there was no support,
it was just left there.

In order
to prevent the residents

from ever returning
to Granadilla,

the flood zone status
is still in effect,

ensuring no one
can live here permanently.

The town is now
a tourist site,

and a monument
to the many communities
across Spain

that suffered a similar fate

at the hands
of the dictatorship.