Those of you who have noticed that there is a 88mm flak canon on display at the entrance to Lanjarón might be interested to know there are more.

Lanjarón has set up this new artillery tourist attraction as part of  the Ruta Cañonera (Canon Route) on the Mirador del Visillo. The Spanish Army command, MADOC ceded this flak cannon to the town after 80 years of use in the forces.

The Mayor, inaugurated this new addition on the 1st of March at one in the afternoon. With this latest artillery piece the number of historical canon are now four.

Furthermore, the Grupo de Recreación Histórica Artillería de Bailén 1808 (battle reenactment club) fired off a round from a Napoleonic-era cannon.

The 88mm flak canon, which was probably the most lethal cannon of WW2 used by the German, weighs seven tonnes and was capable of firing of 25 rounds a minute up to a range of almost 15 kilometres.

Another of the canon date is a replica of one that dates back to the 4th Moorish Rebellion in the Alpujarra. The original was abandoned by the Christian forces manning the fortress when the retreated down to Motril.

The reason that Lanjarón got the nickname Los Cañoneros (The Gunners) was because they held off the invading Napoleonic forces using heavy mortar-type canons from the Cerro de los Cañones, which didn’t go down well with the French general, Sebastiani, who had his HQ in the Alhambra.

So, you have an 88mm flak canon on the Mirador del Visillo, which is on the road coming in from Orgíva. Then you have the same type of canon near the bridge at the entrance to town on the same road. There is the Napoleonic-era canon outside the Town Hall and the medieval one right at the opposite end of Lanjarón, past the Restaurante Casa de Papel. 

Now, we could have misunderstood the press release and it is the 88 near the bridge that has been moved to the Mirador – perhaps somebody can tell us if it is the case.

(News: Lanjarón, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)