El Carmolí is an area in los punta brava, Cartagena municipality, in the Campo de Cartagena comarca,

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a popul ...

, southeastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It used to be the site of a military

air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

, located near a homonymous hill in the flat Mar Menor area. One noteworthy spot in the territory is a hill which name is also El Carmolí and is an ancient volcano that started erupting seven million years ago. The El Carmolí zone is part of a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

called ''Parque Natural de Espacios Abiertos e Islas del Mar Menor''.

Aerodrome

A military aerodrome was built in El Carmolí before the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. It was used by the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

for its High-speed Flying School (''Escuela de Vuelo de Alta Velocidad''), a training facility for

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

pilots.Memoria republicana — SBHAC. Estructura orgánica de las FARE
/ref> Some of the flying instructors based at El Carmolí were from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. After the Civil War the airfield was used by the

Spanish Air Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Al ...

as an emergency landing facility.

References

External links

*
Listado de aeródromos de la GCE y regiones aéreas
Defunct airports in Spain Geography of the Region of Murcia Cartagena, Spain Mar Menor {{Murcia-geo-stub