A cortijo owner in La herradura came across an unexploded shell from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) on his land.
More accurately, a digger operator found it as he had been hired to cut a new access track. His claw bucket hit something metalic. When he called the owner over and they examined it, they just thought that it was a large chunk of corroded iron…
It was a neighbour who pointed out that it could be munitions from the Civil War, so the landowner contacted the Guardia Civil.
Officers from the Equipo de Desactivación de Explosivos (bomb-disposal squad) from Granada arrived, who confirmed that it was an intact, 152 mm, artillery shell; i.e., it still had its detonator and was primed.
The officers took it away – gingerly – to an abandoned quarry where they used an explosive charge to detonate it.
(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Unexploded Shell, Spanish Civil War, excavator, Guardia Civil, Bomb Disposal, Quarry, Detonated