When I went on a bike ride with my mum to Casa de Campo in Madrid, we came across a sign that said Pasarela de la Muerte (Gateway of Death). It said that there used to be a bridge here that was built at the end of the Spanish Civil War by the Francoists who were winning the war.
It was called that because the river Manzanares was guarded by the Republicans who said "They Shall Not Pass", meaning Franco's forces with the Morrocan, Italian and German allies of Franco and their tanks.
There was a three year seige in Madrid and many bridges were built over the river. But they were very dangerous to cross and were called the gateway of death because they were always in a direct line of fire.
Then the Francoists began building a cement one at the end of the war that you can still see a bit of today, (the top bit) which I think is really interesting. It was called the Generalisimo Bridge - as in VERY General Bridge!
This is the top part of the bridge that you can still see.
In the below photo you can see what it used to look like and at the end of the bridge you can see the bit that's still there.
