January 26, 1939
The fall of Barcelona was both a military event and a human catastrophe. As Nationalist columns entered the city on January 26, the streets were largely empty — the population had already fled. The roads north to France were clogged with hundreds of thousands of refugees: soldiers, families, government officials, artists, and intellectuals. France hastily opened its border, interning the refugees in squalid beach camps at Argelès-sur-Mer. The war was effectively over.
Commanders