During the Spanish Civil War, in the late 1930s, Alicante was heavily bombed. For months Alacantinos sought refuge from the explosions in air raid shelters located throughout the city. The biggest held 1500 people. After the war the shelters were closed. But this, the largest, was repurposed as a “fruiting chamber” for mushrooms. The dark, moist underground rooms provided the perfect environment for propagation.
By the 1960s the street above the shelter became the red light district and a growing embarrassment for the city. The mayor at the time undertook a municipal project to transform the street into a tourist destination. How? Oversize Disneyesque mushrooms, perfect for photos. Of course.
Today the street is a magnet. Strangely, people flock to take their photos posed next to the giant fungi.
MedFlies 