A walk through Mostrar, a Bosnian city watered with the blood of Spanish soldiers

There are foreign cities whose names hold special significance for many Spaniards. One of them is Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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This city, founded in the Middle Ages, located in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina on the banks of the Neretva River, was the scene of many terrible events three decades ago. The city suffered a brutal 18-month siege by the Yugoslav People's Army between 1992 and 1993, after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia following the fall of communism. Those battles pitted Yugoslav forces (primarily Serbian) against Croat (Catholic) and Bosnian (Muslim) militias. By the end of 1992, the Croats and Bosnians in the area were fighting each other.

The result of this bloody war was thousands of deaths and Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim religious buildings destroyed by one side or the other. That horrific war did not end with the bloodshed between the different communities in the area. More than 46,000 Spanish soldiers have participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1992, leaving a lasting positive impression on the local population for their humanitarian aid, which was provided without regard for creed or origin. Sadly, 23 Spanish soldiers died on that mission. Four of them died in Mostar. These were their names:

• Lieutenant Francisco Jesús Aguilar Fernández (Spanish Army, June 11, 1993). Killed in a terrorist attack.
• Captain Fernando Álvarez Rodríguez (Spanish Army, December 4, 1993). Killed in a terrorist attack.
• Sergeant Fernando Casas Martín (Spanish Army, May 22, 1994). Killed in a traffic accident.
• Sergeant Raúl Cabrejas Gil (Spanish Army, July 3, 1999). Killed in a traffic accident.

The YouTube channel Aventuras Entresierras (which I highly recommend you subscribe to if you haven't already) has published a video touring several interesting places in Mostar, including one that commemorates the sacrifice of those 23 Spanish soldiers (the video is in Spanish but has an English audio track, you can activate it in the player):

Below are some screenshots from this video as a preview. We begin with the ruins of a small Austro-Hungarian fortress on Fortica Hill, which overlooks the city of Mostar. You can see these ruins in more detail in the video.

The former Ljubljanska Banka tower, now known as the Sniper Tower. It has eight floors and is located near the Neretva River. Its current nickname stems from the fact that snipers used this building as a firing position during the Siege of Mostar in the 1990s. The building still bears numerous bullet holes from various calibers.

The Partisan Memorial Cemetery. It was built by the Yugoslav communist dictatorship in 1965 to bury the partisans who fought against the Nazis in World War II. The cemetery was severely damaged during the war in the 1990s.

The monument commemorating the Spanish soldiers who died on peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina It is located in Spain Square in Mostar, named in their honor. The Spanish flag flies there permanently alongside the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.