The cartographic memory of the Spanish Civil War: The war maps in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Map Library

This paper describes the importance of the cartography undertaken in the course of armed conflicts as a historical document and source of information of these events. It is exemplified by the case of the Spanish Civil War and the digital collection Mapes de la Guerra Civil Espanyola (1936-1939) housed in the Map Library of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the virtual exhibition of the same name. These two resources allow the researcher to trace in detail the importance of the maps produced during the war, and serve to complement our knowledge of the military and technical aspects of the conflict while providing documents that can be used in the research of other aspects of the Civil War.