The Santander fire of 1941 was a natural disaster that occurred in the Spanish city of Santander during the early morning hours of February 15 to February 16, 1941. Occurring decades after the explosion of the steamship Cabo Machichaco (1893), it is considered the most devastating fire in the history of the city.
The fire destroyed a large part of the historic center of the city, including the cathedral, and caused a great change in the urban structure of Santander. Most of the damage was material, as thousands of families lost their homes and businesses. There was one fatality, a firefighter from Madrid, and more than a hundred people were injured. The fire is popularly known as the Andalusian fire because, curiously, it started on Cadiz Street and the flames were stopped at Seville Street.
Background
In 1941 Spain was in a very difficult post-war period, since the three-year civil war that had ended two years earlier was compounded by the fact that World War II was underway, making reconstruction difficult. Due to the extreme poverty of this period, it is not surprising that all kinds of accidents occurred due to outdated or poorly maintained equipment which did not meet conservation conditions. Many of these accidents caused enormous material and human losses.
Examples of these accidents that took place during the end of the 1930s and the following decade could be the explosion of the ammunition dump in Peñaranda de Bracamonte in 1939, the explosion of the ammunition dump in Pinar de Antequera in 1940, the railway accident in Torre del Bierzo in 1944, the sinking of the submarine C-4 in 1946, the explosion of the ammunition dumps in Alcalá de Henares in 1947, the explosion of a Navy ammunition dump in Cádiz in 1947. In all these cases the Francoist censorship reacted forcefully, minimizing as much as possible the accidents or insinuating sabotage conspiracies to harm the Francoist regime.
The Fire
The triggering element of the catastrophe was the strong southeasterly wind that, since the afternoon of February 15, hit the city, accompanied by an atmospheric depression of great intensity. The maximum speed it reached is unknown, since the measuring instruments in Santander were destroyed by the storm. Gusts of over 180 kilometers per hour are estimated. The fire started in Cádiz Street, in the vicinity of the docks, and fanned by a strong south wind, the flames soon reached the cathedral, which, being located in the highest area, became a powerful source of fire spread to the nearby streets.
The origins of the fire are not detailed in the information of the time. It is known with almost total certainty that it started in Cádiz Street, but the triggering object varies according to the source. Some allude to a chimney at number 20 of the same street, others to a short circuit, and some texts locate the origin of the fire at number 5. From there, the fire quickly spread to number 15 Rúa Mayor, fanned by the strong south wind.
From the axis of the Puebla Vieja (cathedral, Rúa Mayor, Rúa Menor...), the fire spread towards the streets of La Ribera, San Francisco, Atarazanas, El Puente, La Blanca and Plaza Vieja. In this way it placed its limits to the north, in the slope of the Atalaya, and the street of San José, by the west the fire was cut before reaching Isabel II and the Limón street, without affecting the headquarters of the city council, by the south it extended until the street Calderón de la Barca, while by the east the fire stopped in the first houses of the expansion. The limits of the fire coincide almost completely with the walled space of the 12th century villa.
During the 16th the fire continued, subsiding in the east but advancing in other areas of the city. That same day, 24 hours after the fire started, firefighters arrived from Bilbao, San Sebastián, Palencia, Burgos, Oviedo, Gijón, Avilés and Madrid. Already on the 17th, the absence of wind favored the extinguishing works. Furniture and homeless passers-by began to disappear from the streets. The firefighters penetrated into the burnt area, and the last outbreaks were drowned, although it would not be completely extinguished until fifteen days later.