5-OLD THEATRE, ARENAL AND CALLE BIDEBARRIETA
Auxiliary volunteers were a constant presence in and around the Arenal. That was where they carried out manoeuvres, with a company of guards and a reserve company coming in every day. As the photographs show, the cobblestones and earth displaced by bombs were used to build barricades and fill sandbags. This is shown by the arches and lower part
of the Hotel Antonia, located between Calle Bidebarrieta and the then American Consulate.
Meanwhile, the old Teatro de la Villa —the predecessor of the present-day Arriaga Theatre—
functioned as a general barracks for government troops. The Military Governor, General Ignacio María del Castillo, coordinated the defence of Bilbao from there. The parade to mark the liberation of the town, presided over by General Concha, was held in front of the theatre on the afternoon of 2 May 1874.
