ABC de Sevilla talks about the old magazine La Matallana, which has been integrated into the historical structure of the army, and which has reopened its doors with a radical change: from a restricted security enclave to a municipal entertainment area. Most veterans still remember the guarded entrances, buried warehouses and the strict routine that characterized the life of the detachment.
The municipal project has returned to use for more than… 23 hectares Which has remained abandoned since it was officially handed over to the city council in 2001. This operation, according to local officials, is part of a strategy to re-evaluate the remains of the former Matalana military detachment and turn them into a tourist, cultural and environmental resource. The initiative recalls a chapter that marked thousands of soldiers from Lora del Río and surrounding towns.
What military history did La Matalana really hide?
Operational magazine associated with ET ammunition
| Parameter | He deserves |
|---|---|
| linked unit | Ordnance Company III/21 |
| Average staff | About 90 replacement soldiers |
| The beginning of the year | 1965 (handed over to the Ministry of the Army) |
Behind the strict appearance of the buildings and the geometric layout of the warehouses, there was a very strict security protocol, typical for army magazines of the second half of the twentieth century. According to the commanders mentioned in the documentary – such as Captain Andres Márquez and Lieutenant Antonio Caballero – the responsibility was “firm and comprehensive”, not only for the ammunition but for the management of more than a hundred young men in compulsory service. Reports from the Department of the Army itself from the late 1970s detail standards roughly similar to those in effect here, focusing on perimeter surveillance and access control.
The hidden truth that marked his decline
- The approval of the META plan in 1991—as a Congressional Research Service analysis cited in a 1998 study noted—predicted the military’s disappearance. Army experts point out that this strategic move left small ammunition detachments like Matalana without an operational function.
What does it take to convert an old powder magazine today?
The 2001 transfer closed the military chapter once and for all. Starting in 2017, renovations for recreational use began. For some veterans, the reopening has been emotional. Cases such as that of José Antonio Martinez “El Piranha,” who traveled from Murcia to see the facility, reveal the extent to which this separation generated lasting relationships. Doctor José Antonio Heras, who helped the soldiers at any time, was also commemorated on the tribute day.
Sources consulted from the Spanish Ministry of Defense explain that reusing old magazines fits into a European trend: turning small military infrastructure into cultural or environmental assets. In the words of the 2020 NATO report – indirectly cited by the municipal team – these spaces can serve as “vectors of local identity and strategic memory.” This is what Laura del Rio is trying to activate with Matalana, and integrate it into more than one 800 hectares From public pasture.
The military closure is now history. The new phase opens an opportunity: to transform the security enclave into a natural and tourist lung, without erasing the traces of thousands of soldiers who passed through its barracks. Today La Matallana combines military memory with social utility. A balance that, according to Mayor Antonio Enamorado, determines the immediate future of the municipality.