The advertisement published at the end of September said the following: “House ‘nuclear shelter’ with plot in Benavarri (Oscar)”. Under this peculiar title, the auction website Escrapalia opened the bidding for a rustic estate of four hectares (41,396 m²) which includes a habitable property of 220 m² with a basement that also serves as a family bunker.
Located in the Fon de Boix lot, the company specified that the shelter, of 150 m², is an “anti-atomic and anti-seismic” construction built in 2011 capable of housing between 12 and 20 people with an autonomy of three to five months . “In the event that an atomic explosion or radioactive clouds affect Europe, it would be extremely protected”, they affirmed. The company set the market value of the property at 850,000 euros, and its starting price was 550,000 euros.
The existence of this type of private shelters to protect oneself in the event of a military attack or natural disaster is not new. According to the newspaper library, the largest and most famous in all of Spain, with capacity for 400 people, was inaugurated in 1983 on the ground floor of the Hotel Ébora (former Hotel Beatriz) in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo). Of smaller proportions, it is known that there are others distributed throughout the national geography. “Between 500 and 1,000”, estimates a source in the sector, where confidentiality is paramount. With the geopolitical waters increasingly turbulent, the opinion trend now seems to be on the rise.
“They were made before, but now the demand is greater”, assures this newspaper Francisco Javier Márquez, of the firm Underground Building, which since 2018 has been offering the construction of NBQ shelters (against nuclear, bacteriological and chemical attacks, by its acronym in English). By phone, he assures that since the start of the war in Ukraine his company has registered a 70% increase in requests for information and budgets, “although in the end only a small amount materializes party”.
The same opinion is shared by José Antonio Miguel, from Overvoxt, which advertises itself as the only Spanish company specializing in the production of prefabricated steel shelters. “Since the Russian invasion, the demand has soared, and we have noticed it again now with the conflict in Israel”, he points out.
The sources consulted agree that since 2022 there has been an increase in the number of advertisements on the internet by companies that claim to build bunkers with all the guarantees. However, the information contained in many of those portals is vague: the history of the company is not specified, nor are there any names and surnames of people who attest to their experience or the cost of the work. Some do not respond to emails or refuse to talk on the phone.
The Catalan company ABQ, which has been in the sector since 1975, already warns of the risk of contracting construction with an unknown or inexperienced company. “After the war in Ukraine, companies are proliferating that offer bunkers and atomic shelters without experience or any knowledge,” warns the creator, nuclear engineer Antonio Alcahud, on his website. To potential interested parties, he advises them to make sure of the qualification and experience of the person who will design the bunker, to ask him complex questions about the subject and to ask him for photographs of his work. “His life and that of his relatives depend on this”, he says.
In conversation with this newspaper, Alcahud casts doubt on the news of this supposed boom in the demand for private bunkers – “I haven’t noticed it”, he says – and rather believes that there is a substantial increase in the supply. “There is a lot of intrusion. I have seen real barbarities, with wrong figures and absurd proposals”, he criticizes.
What all the interviewees agree on is that the costs of a shelter vary according to different factors, such as size, if it is a new building or the reform of an existing space (basement, cellar, garage) or of the equipment it incorporates: from armored doors, generator sets and ventilation and air filtration systems to the quality of the interior finishes.
In general terms, the company ABQ puts the cost of a 25-place shelter at 59,800 euros, which rises to 70,300 euros for one for 50 people, to which is added the cost of civil works (excavation, concrete, painting, plumbing…). Underground Building says that a standard set-up (two bedrooms, kitchen-living room and bathroom) costs between 110,000 and 180,000 euros (including transport and work), while Overvoxt’s 6×3 prefabs can go for 40,000 euros more ventilation systems, which range between 6,000 and 9,000 euros.
Far from countries like Switzerland, where it is mandatory for homes to have underground shelters, among the Spanish clientele are wealthy pockets with available land, although companies agree that there is increasing interest among middle-class people, most of them with children. “They are people like everyone else, who prioritize safety and are willing to invest what a luxury car costs,” they say.
