Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
La Vajol & Coll de Lli – exile crossing
Memorial
The story
In the last days of the Republic in Catalonia, the tiny border village of La Vajol and its surroundings sheltered members of the government and treasures evacuated from Barcelona. On 5 February 1939 President Manuel Azaña, Diego Martínez Barrio, Lluís Companys and the Basque president José Antonio Aguirre crossed the frontier into France on foot by the Coll de Lli. Thousands of refugees used the same mountain paths. A monument to the exile marks the route. Paintings from the Prado and other evacuated collections were also stored in this area before being taken on to Geneva.
What you can see today
The exile monument and waymarked mountain paths towards the Coll de Lli and the French border.
Plan your visit
The pin marks the Monument a l'Exili at the entrance to La Vajol. From there the waymarked Ruta de l'Exili climbs about 6 km on forest tracks to the Coll de Lli on the French border; allow half a day on foot. The MUME exile museum in La Jonquera has route details.
Sources
Nearby sites
- MUME – Museu Memorial de l'Exili, La Jonquera · 6 km
- Castell de Sant Ferran, Figueres (last Cortes) · 19 km
- Portbou – Walter Benjamin memorial 'Passatges' · 30 km
- Bunquers de Martinet (Línea P) · 92 km
- Crypt of the Tercio de Montserrat, Montserrat · 120 km
- Camp de la Bóta memorial (Fraternitat) · 121 km
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The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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