PCMASA 1, the large maintenance center for armored vehicles of the Spanish Army

The Spanish Army has been using armored vehicles for more than 100 years, and that use implies having means for their maintenance and updating.

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In 1939, after the end of the Spanish Civil War, the Carabanchel Park and Workshops were created in Madrid, dependent on the Directorate of Transport in the Ministry of the Army and in charge of maintaining all types of vehicles. automobiles. In 1952 this unit was moved to the Villaverde neighborhood, where it remains today, after successive name changes. In 1978 this center took over the maintenance of the AMX-30 battle tanks. In 1985 the unit was renamed Armored Systems Maintenance Center No. 1, specializing in AMX-30 and BMR and VEC armored vehicles.

In 1997 it took charge of the Leopard 2A4 tanks, and finally, on June 30, 1998, the unit finally adopted its current name: Armored Systems Maintenance Park and Center No. 1 (PCMASA 1), which is currently responsible for the maintenance of all armored vehicles of the Spanish Army, including the Leopard 2E battle tanks and ASCOD Pizarro infantry combat vehicles (ICV).

Its base is known as the "San Cristóbal" Barracks, which is also the headquarters of the Army Central Laboratory. In the city of Segovia there is a similar center, the PCMASA 2, which is smaller in size. Yesterday, the Spanish Army published an interesting video that shows the interior of PCMASA 1 and some of the work carried out in its facilities:

We can see some screenshots of this video below. Here we see one of the PCMASA 1 ships, with a Leopard 2E battle tank in the foreground. In the background we see a VEC (on the left) and two BMR.

The PCMASA 1 paint workshop, with the barge of a newly painted Leopard 2E.

The turret of a Leopard 2E being towed to reattach it to its barge.

The placement of the turret of a Leopard 2E on its barge, a process that is often nicknamed "marriage" in armored vehicle maintenance workshops.