The Memorial Democràtic, in collaboration with the Alt Empordà County Council, has indicated the towns and places in the county that were the scene of the great republican exodus.
In addition to la Jonquera and Portbou, the most important border crossings, the secondary roads of some villages in Albera and les Salines have been taken into account, as well as the municipalities and places that played an important role in the resistance and the evacuation of the last republican military units, as is the case of Peralada and, more specifically, of its castle.
Retreat and paths from exile to Peralada
The castle was confiscated in 1938 and housed the Republican Army General Staff, a fleet of military vehicles and an aircraft assembly workshop.
Several consignments of works of art evacuated from the Prado Museum were also deposited, which were distributed between the ground floor of the castle, the convent, the church and the crypt of Carme. These patrimonial and artistic funds remained in the castle's outbuildings until their evacuation to Ceret and Geneva on the 3rd and 4th of February 1939.
The castle also hosted for a few days the entourage of the Presidency of the Republic, led by Manuel Azaña (1880-1940). Azaña arrived on January 25th from Llavaneres (Barcelona) and left the castle on January 31rd to head to the farmhouse of Can Barris de la Vajol, a few kilometers from the border.
To expand the information and knowledge of these events and spaces of democratic memory, you can visit the headquarters of the Exile Memorial Museum in la Jonquera and Agullana.
