Spanish Republican exiles

The phrase Spanish Republican exiles refers to all the citizens of the Second Spanish Republic who, during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 and the immediate post-war period, were forced to leave their homeland and move to other countries. This was either for political and ideological reasons or for fear of retaliation by the winning side and the authoritarian political regime established in Spain. Thus, they remained abroad until circumstances had changed in the country, which allowed them to return gradually. However, many became integrated into the societies that had given them refuge and thus they contributed to their development in some cases.

A large proportion of the first wave of refugees—up to 440,000 in France according to an official report dated March 1939—initially faced harsh living conditions, which worsened because of the outbreak of World War II. Although many of them managed to return in the 1940s, the "permanent" Republican exile consisted of around 220,000 people, many of whom were former combatants, politicians, or civil servants directly committed to the Republican cause. Also among them were thousands of relatives and civilians, along with a significant number of children, intellectuals, artists, scientists, teachers, and skilled professionals, which was a further determining factor in the process of rebuilding the country as a consequence of the conflict.

The main destination countries were, in particular, France, Mexico, Argentina, and the Soviet Union, but large groups were also granted asylum in other countries such as Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Peru, the Dominican Republic, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Over the years, the internal political evolution in Spain and the gradual process of reconciliation, which culminated in the period of the Spanish Transition and the establishment of democracy, slowly allowed for the return of the exiles. However, there were also many who, due to their degree of integration, decided to remain in the countries that had granted them asylum and where they later met other Spaniards who had arrived either as emigrants for economic reasons since the 1950s or who were part of a new wave of exiles: those persecuted by the dictatorship until 1975.

The first displacements of refugees and exiles took place during the first months of the war—especially in the period from August to December 1936—marked by episodes of systematic violence against the civilian population, both because of ideologically motivated repression by the rebel forces and by the supporters of the social revolution, as well as the advance of military operations. These displacements were mainly to France and were characterized by their still provisional nature. Thus the groups were made up of people from the border regions of Aragon, Catalonia, and the Basque Country, either because of their proximity to the rebel faction, in the case of the first two, or because they were supporters of the government who were fleeing the advance of the Irún front, in the latter case, or they were simply "neutral" people who felt threatened by the climate of hostility and violence.

As the conflict developed, the provisional nature became more permanent in the case of those displaced persons who were close to the Republican faction, to the point that, although there were still people fleeing en masse, actions were being taken by the Republican government to put some order into the evacuations, especially those involving minors. The Central Office for Evacuation and Refugee Assistance was set up in October 1936, on the eve of the siege of Madrid, in anticipation of mass evacuations to the Mediterranean coast, while France's General Confederation of Labour created the Comité d'accueil aux enfants d'Espagne in Paris in November.

The first evacuations of children took place from Madrid and Valencia, when 100 minors were sent to the USSR in February 1937, and from the Basque Country, where 450 people were evacuated to the French island of Oléron, at the La Maison Heureuse [fr] vacation colony. Pirmin Treku, who arrived in Britain among the Basque child evacuees, later became a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet. Later, around 300 of them were taken to Paris while the rest were granted asylum in Oostduinkerke, Belgium. A total of 456 minors arrived in Mexico in June 1937. From that moment on, they would be known by the collective name Children of Morelia [es]. The arrangements for their transfer were made possible thanks to the Committee for the Assistance to Spanish Children [es].

According to Bartolomé Bennassar (2004), around 10,000 Basque citizens fled by road to France. Many refugees left Catalonia by sea, headed to Marseille and Genoa, and on foot through the Pyrenees, trying to avoid being seen by militiamen and border guards. Overall, it is estimated that between 30,000 and 35,000 refugees from Catalonia arrived in France and Italy between July 1936 and late 1938.