 The bullet holes were caused by the military-like actions at the end of the Civil War (at the beginning of March 1939), as a consequence of Segismundo Casado's revolt against Juan Negerín's government.The constitution of the National Defence Council placed a, artillery battery in the Plaza de Cibeles.The building was involved in a battle on 8 and 9 March when communist troops succeeded in taking the Palacio de Comunicaciones within a few hours, while Casado's troops were resisting in the Naval Office ("Ministerio de la Marina"), the War Office and the Bank of Spain.