Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
MUME – Museu Memorial de l'Exili, La Jonquera
Museum
The story
As Nationalist forces overran Catalonia after the fall of Barcelona on 26 January 1939, a huge mass of civilians and defeated soldiers fled north to the French border: the Retirada. They crossed at Le Perthus/La Jonquera, Portbou, Coll d'Ares and the mountain passes, in winter, under air attack. France held many of them in improvised camps on the beaches such as Argelès and Saint-Cyprien. The MUME, opened in 2008 in the frontier town of La Jonquera, tells the story of this exodus and of the Republican exile: the camps, return, deportation to Nazi camps, and life abroad.
What you can see today
Permanent exhibition on the Retirada, the French camps and exile, with photographs, objects and testimonies; temporary exhibitions and a documentation centre.
Plan your visit
Carrer Major 43–47, La Jonquera; open Monday–Saturday and Sunday mornings; see museuexili.cat for hours and prices. The museum can advise on the exile walking routes over the nearby passes.
- Open
- 16 Sep–30 Jun Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun & hols 10:00–14:00; 1 Jul–15 Sep Mon–Fri 10:00–19:00, Sat 10:00–14:30 & 16:00–19:00, Sun 10:00–14:00; closed 25–26 Dec, 1 & 6 Jan
- Price
- €4 adults (€3 students/pensioners, €2 over-65s); under-18s free
Checked September 2026 from official sources: museuexili.cat, patrimoni.gencat.cat. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90718/Exodus-Memorial-Museum.htm
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90718/Exodus-Memorial-Museum.htm
- museuexili.cat/
Nearby sites
- La Vajol & Coll de Lli – exile crossing · 6 km
- Castell de Sant Ferran, Figueres (last Cortes) · 17 km
- Portbou – Walter Benjamin memorial 'Passatges' · 24 km
- Bunquers de Martinet (Línea P) · 98 km
- Camp de la Bóta memorial (Fraternitat) · 124 km
- Crypt of the Tercio de Montserrat, Montserrat · 125 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
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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