Keeping Spain's Exiles Alive in our Hearts

The University of Maryland in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in Washington present a two-day symposium to commemorate the 80 Anniversary of the Republican Exile.

In 2019 it will be 80 years since the Spanish Civil War ended and Spanish Republicans fled to France, northern Africa and the Americas. The Retreat was a mass diaspora –some 480,000 people, it is reckoned– that was also long-lasting and plural, as it included people from all social, political and economic backgrounds, from employees and housewives to a large number of intellectuals, about 5,000.

Both they and subsequent generations of exiles feel that they have been forgotten by Spanish democracy. The anniversary is an opportunity for Spain to recognize its exiles and make known their contributions to the progress, development and modernisation of the host countries –to which tribute is due– as well as to the return to democracy in Spain.

View the full program (PDF)