Camí de la Retirada (, Spanish: ''Camino de la Retirada'') ("Path of the Retreat") refers to routes and paths in the eastern

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

used by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

exiles at the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. One of the best known paths, today signposted as a trail for hiking or biking, runs for from

Molló Molló (, Catalan for "milestone") is a town and municipality in the comarca of Ripollès in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, located in the Pyrenees, by the French border. Molló borders to the north with Prats de Molló (in Vallespir, France, connected ...

Prats de Molló Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, near the border with Spain and the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. The name ''Prats-de-Mollo'' comes from Catalan "meadows of Molló". Mo ...

via

Col d'Ares Col d'Ares () or Coll d'Ares () (el. 1513 m) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain. It connects Prats-de-Mollo in France with Molló in Catalonia, Spain. History In 1691, during the Nine Years' War, th ...

at above sea level. It is estimated that about 100,000 people of all ages used this path in January and February, 1939.

History

The fall of Barcelona on 26 January 1939 caused a mass exodus of both civilians and

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

who fled to the French border. This withdrawal – known in Catalonia as the ''Retirada'' – led to the displacement of close to 500,000 people, one of the largest refugee crises in Europe of all time. Mountain paths in

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

and

Ripollès Ripollès (; es, link=no, Ripollés) is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the Ribes and Camprodon river valleys. In 2001, its population was 25,744, about 40% of whom lived in the capital, Ripoll. Ripollès borders the c ...

were used as alternatives to increasingly impassable roads in

Alt Empordà Alt Empordà (, "Upper Empordà") is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, one of two into which Empordà Emporda (from the official name in ca, Empordà, , name in es, Ampurdán, ) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia ...

. All refugees entering France were disarmed and arrested.Ramón Salas Larrazabal (2006), ''Historia del Ejército Popular de la República.'' La Esfera de los Libros S.L.

History

See also

References

Further reading