Balgarianovinite.com The war in the Middle East has prompted many European countries to address the condition of their bomb shelters. Bulgaria is no exception. Last week, the University Rescue Squad (URS), a member of the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross, published a map of civil devence and fallout shelters in the country, which was covered in the media. The map is intended to raise public awareness of the existence and location of these facilities.
According to fire service data, the country has 247 civil devence and fallout shelters, but only 18 of them are ready to use for the purposes they were designed for. The rest can be made functional within a week. There is a person officially in charge of each shelter, who should take care of its maintenance. A passport is kept on each facility, and the fire service is supposed to conduct inspections twice annually.
Ten of Sofia’s 92 shelters have been overhauled in the last two years, City Hall says. Renovation is beginning at another six, and the rest are set to be repaired within four years. They are often housed in schools and kindergartens.
“Some shelters are known to the public but are not included on the official list. This is so because they are not placed in the charge of the fire service but are privately owned,” says URS volunteer Radinel Pargov, who compiled the map. According to him, a private shelter can be used by anyone in the area but is under a private building.
Many settlements and some parts of Sofia have no civil devence and fallout shelters. Pargov notes that the largest shelter in the capital is the underground railway, the Metro, which can take more than 900,000 people. The National Palace of Culture in downtown Sofia as well as underground garages and tunnels can be used for that purpose as well. Map Shows 247 Bomb Shelters in Bulgaria, 18 of Them Functional 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-04 04:27:48 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law