Caldes en Temps de Guerres

Soler Thermal Spa – Totem Pole

Soler Thermal Spa, opened in 1900 and demolished in 1975, bottled the water from the La Mina hot spring source under the name “Catalonia Hot Spring Source.” It competed with the Prats and Vichy Catalan Thermal Spas during the happy years of hydrotherapy in the early 19th century which were interrupted by the Civil War.

Soler Thermal Spa, like the other two thermal spas in Caldes, was used during the 1930s and 1940s to accommodate several war refugees and wounded, thanks to its high bed capacity.

During the early days of the Civil War, the former conservative mayor and owner of the thermal spa, Josep Soler, managed to save himself from Republican repression thanks to his dual nationality (his mother was French) and hung a French flag on the facade. In 1937, it was decided to adapt the thermal spa to accommodate war wounded and sick, which is why its furniture was destroyed. In 1944 it accommodated 150 soldiers from the Italian contingent. Those who did not respect the discipline protocol established by the Italian Navy were locked up in the storeroom which had been adapted as a dungeon.