The newly inaugurated headquarters of Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM), located in the historic former Hostal Términus building, will host its first cultural event this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. with the opening lecture of a new conference series. The inaugural session will focus on aerial bombings and air-raid shelters built in Mallorca during the Spanish Civil War, including the shelter preserved in the basement of the Términus building itself.

The event will take place in the new hall dedicated to social and cultural activities and marks the beginning of a programme aimed at exploring Mallorca’s past and present, addressing historical memory as well as the evolution of mobility—particularly rail transport—and its impact on the island’s social development.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

SFM launches a lecture series at the Términus with a talk on Civil War bombings and air-raid shelters

The opening lecture will be delivered by historian and journalist Manuel Aguilera and researcher Bartomeu Fiol under the title “When the Sirens Sounded: Bombings and Air-Raid Shelters in Civil War Mallorca”. The speakers will examine the wartime situation on the island and analyse how the civilian population was protected through the construction of an extensive network of shelters in response to aerial attacks.

The lecture is open to the public until the venue reaches its maximum capacity of 50 people. Several public officials are expected to attend, including the Regional Minister for Housing, Territory and Mobility, José Luis Mateo; the Director General for Mobility, Lorena del Valle; and the Managing Director of SFM, José Ramón Orta.

Manuel Aguilera holds a PhD in History and teaches at CESAG. He has devoted much of his academic and journalistic career to researching the Spanish Civil War in Mallorca and is the author of several specialised books. In 2025, he was awarded the Mallorca Essay Prize for his work Mallorca en llamas, scheduled for publication in 2026.

Bartomeu Fiol Coll has spent more than 25 years researching air-raid shelters in Palma. He has published two key reference books on the subject and is widely recognised as a leading expert on passive defence systems in Mallorca during the Civil War.