Bombing of Cabra

On 7 November 1938, three Soviet-made, Republican Tupolev SB-2 “Katiuska” bombers dropped their payloads on the town of Cabra, in the province of Córdoba. It was market day, and the bombing killed 109 people and wounded more than 300 others. Almost all the casualties were civilians. The photograph shows the market  stalls after the bombs fell. The reasons for the attack and its significance have been the subject of historical debate ever since. 

In general terms, Republican aerial bombardments sought to destroy military targets, while the Francoists were much less discriminating and their attacks killed many more civilians. However, because military installations were often located close to areas where civilians lived and aerial bombing were very imprecise, this distinction was often more theoretical than real. The case of Cabra, like earlier Republican bombings of Oviedo and Valladolid, are good examples of the imprecise nature of Republican aerial bombings. 

The attack on Cabra came at a dire moment, with Republican forces on the verge of losing the Battle of the Ebro. This, combined with the fear that the Francoists could then conquer Catalonia, led to the Republic believing that defeat was on the horizon. In this context, General Vicente Rojo, the leading Republican strategist, proposed launching a plan for an attack in the south which had been suggested a number of times before, but never executed.  In addition to an attempt to overcome rebel defences in Extremadura and landing troops near Motril, the plan included aerial bombings of a number of towns in the province of Córdoba.  

This is where the differing interpretations of the events arise. For some, the attack, like the one on Baena a few days earlier, was planned as an attempt to distract the Francoist air force from Catalonia. For others, it was a tragic mistake, as Republican planes mistook the stalls of the market for the tents of the Italian soldiers they believed were camped there. 

When he received news of the attack, the commander of the Francoist army in the south, General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, ordered his air force to carry out reprisal attacks, especially in the province of Jaén. Once again, the majority of the victims were civilians. 

Those who want to put the Republican and Francoist causes on equal terms politically and with regard to cruelty have made use of the memory of the attack on Cabra. It has been called the “Guernica” the Republic ignored. And, while the residents of Cabra always retained the traumatic memory of the event, the Francoist regime was not interested in promoting it, since it did not it well with its triumphant rhetoric.