Sunday, 15 January The Nationalists seized one of 3 Catalan provincial capitals still controlled by the Republicans, Tarragona, located some 80 km away from Barcelona. At that moment the closest point to Barcelona they controlled was
Santa Coloma de Queralt, already some 65 km away from the capital. The news was made public the same day and made enormous impact among the population. Until the day some tended to trust the official propaganda and though probably very few if any believed in Republican victory, they might have calculated that it was months before the Nationalists might reach
Ciutat Comtal, or even that the Republican resistance might lead to some kind of truce. The fall of Tarragona marked a dramatic change and most residents realized that Barcelona was now under direct threat. In some political groups, e.g. within the Catalanist
ERC, the idea that the fall of Catalonia was not only inevitable but also imminent, started to take roots. For the first time parties and unions began to talk not about defending Catalonia, but rather about the need to fortify the city, anticipating the expected siege of the Catalan capital. Both civilian (Negrín) and military (Rojo) leaders started to consider mounting an ultimate defence line along the Llobregat river, in its lower section flowing directly at the outskirts of Barcelona. However, in parallel and still rather as contingency, in utmost secrecy Negrín commenced works on schemes of evacuation. Newspapers doubled their propaganda efforts. The Nationalists were usually referred to as foreign invaders on Spanish soil, with focus on Moroccan, Italian and German units. The local
Republican advance in Extremadura, commenced on 5 January some 800 km away, was put on equal footing with the Nationalist one in Catalonia and at times even occupied more space in the papers. Following a few months of no arms supplies from the
USSR, on 15 January the first Soviet ship with additional deliveries, requested by Negrín's envoy to Moscow
Hidalgo de Cisneros in early December, arrived in
Bordeaux; some weapons would reach Catalonia before its fall, but it is not clear whether they would reach Barcelona.
Monday, 16 January in centre The government declared all males between 17 and 55 subject to military discipline; a separate decree declared all males above 55 who were entitled to any financial benefits, including pension, subject to mandatory public service if called. Political parties, trade unions and other organisations supported the measures and kept manifesting their will to fight; specific organisations declared creating their own combat battalions, including
batallón de ametralladoras, yet this remained clear fiction as machine guns were few and missing even in frontline machine gun platoons. Though the nationwide
Anarchist congress, held in
Valencia, voiced their disagreement with decrees of mobilisation, claiming that they paralysed labor union and political life, in Catalonia neither the CNT nor
FAI upheld this claim. At mobilisation points and in the barracks a rather moderate inflow of males called to arms continued. New recruits, about to be pressed into military service, were missing uniforms, equipment and arms; they were hardly undergoing any training and some preparations boiled down to propaganda addresses by
political commissars. Though seemingly scarcely enthusiastic, when interrogated by superiors the recruits declared they were prepared and determined to fight "hasta el final", yet later Rojo wrote that "for the spirit of resistance there had been substituted the idea of salvation. Everyone was afraid of being cut off".
Revolutionary tribunals, set up in 1936–1937, continued operating at least until this day, as the last sentence against supposed anti-Republican subversives documented in archives is dated 16 January.
Tuesday, 17 January The Ministry of Interior issued a decree which envisioned sealing of private-held radio receivers. The measure was officially explained as a response to a flood of rumours, including the most wild ones, which were often repeated after the Nationalist radio broadcasts; it was also intended to prevent a would-be panic. Owners were supposed to present their receivers in specified points of the city within 4 days, yet it is not clear how many inhabitants complied. The prime minister Negrin called the president
Manuel Azaña and given the pace of Nationalist advance suggested the president leaves his residence, some 30 km north-west of Barcelona, and moves to a safer place. As during the previous few days, a number of rallies were organised by various organisations and informal groupings; speakers assured their audiences that Republican resistance was insurmountable and that the enemy stood no chance of taking Barcelona, though they also called for mobilisation and total support for the war effort. Messages of support from abroad, usually from various Communist parties, were read. It is not clear how many inhabitants indeed believed these statements. Many preferred to believe various rumours which started to circulate, especially that France was going to intervene and send its troops, establishing sort of a protectorate. Elaborate details were being added, e.g. that colonial
Senegalese units would be deployed in Catalonia. The possibility of a would-be French intervention was considered also in diplomatic circles.
Wednesday, 18 January s near Santa Coloma During the cabinet meeting some members expressed hope that in the forthcoming session of the French parliament the prime minister
Leon Blum would declare the
non-intervention policy abandoned; this in turn would lead to a major change in policy of the great powers towards the Spanish civil war, possibly including sort of a military engagement. During the same sitting, with president of the autonomous government of Catalonia invited,
Lluís Companys criticised the central government for alleged marginalisation of the Catalan autonomous government. No one opposed the policy of resistance, but neither were any meaningful decisions taken. A number of well-known personalities, including
Martínez Barrio,
Ramón Lamoneda,
Nicolau d'Olwer,
Antonio Machado,
Manuel Irujo, and
Margarita Nelken signed an open letter to the international audience; it falsely claimed that in Santa Coloma de Queralt the Nationalists machine-gunned hundreds of people. The signatories called the international community not to allow the same, but on much larger scale, to happen in Barcelona; it was one more attempt to reach out to international observers in hope to trigger some sort of intervention. During the evening general Rojo spoke over the radio; unlike in the case of top politicians, it was an exceptional measure, as the supreme army commander had never done it before. The content did not differ much from other broadcasts and was a general call for resistance, yet to most listeners it delivered the sense of urgency and immediate threat.
Thursday, 19 January On the central section of the frontline the
avant-garde Nationalist units entered the villages of
Pontons and
La Llacuna, while along the Mediterranean coastline they approached
Vilanova i la Geltrú; all these locations were some 50 km away from Barcelona. Though in the north large parts of the
Lleida province and the entire
Girona province remained controlled by the Republicans, in the south the Nationalists were now descending into
the Foix valley, with
Serra d'Ordal as the last major natural obstacle separating them from the Llobregat. Though 19 January was a usual working week Thursday, there were some 100 rallies held across the city, organised by parties, trade unions and other organisations. Groups of young people, especially women from JSU, toured institutions and working places calling men to join armed units and ridiculing or stigmatizing these who did not intend to. Newspapers published numerous manifestos, declarations and calls to arms; accounts from frontlines featured stories about heroism and sacrifice, highlighting episodes and personalities iconic for Republican advantages. During evening hours it became clear that the
French parliament was not likely to take decisions related to the Spanish war soon, and hopes as to a foreign intervention subsided.
Friday, 20 January Nationalist troops, so far most advanced on coastal and central sectors of the front, progressed also north-west of Barcelona, reaching the slopes of
Serra de Castelltalat and the outskirts of
Calaf, which was taken the same day; they were starting to near approaches to
Igualada and
Manresa. President Azaña in his residence noted having heard very distant artillery fire. During the day news from Paris was urgently awaited, as talks in the French parliament continued; eventually they were suspended until Tuesday, 24 January. The Barcelona press clung to any signs of hope, e.g. referring calls to convene the
House of Commons in London or to discuss war atrocities in the
League of Nations headquarters in
Geneva. The Catalan president played a secondary role during the first days of 1939. The Generalitat kept issuing decrees which usually repeated official governmental measures, e.g. these related to conscription or militarisation of industry. On 20 January Companys spoke over the radio; he declared Catalonia "an impenetrable fortress" and called the Catalans not to allow the enemy to desecrate the tomb of
Francesc Macià. The following day his address was either quoted or extensively referred in the morning papers.
Saturday, 21 January The Nationalists seized
Vilafranca del Penedes and Vilanova i la Geltrú in the south and
Saint Joan de Mediona and
Sant Pere Sacarrera in the centre; all these places were some 40–45 km from Barcelona. President Azaña left his residence near Terrasa and moved some 30 km east, north-east of Barcelona. Some departments of the central government commenced preparations for evacuation; works began on orders of Negrín. Negrín also called Companys and made a veiled suggestion that
Generalitat prepare for evacuation, which Companys started to implement. To avoid panic, these activities were kept secret, but since all drivers in service of autonomous government were told to gather at specified points in the city on Monday, 23 January, news started to spread. First official vehicles began to appear on roads leading from Barcelona northbound.
Frederic Escofet, head of the auxiliary public order force
Esquadres de Catalunya, on explicit orders from Companys told his men to leave the city the following day. Head of the Economy Department in autonomous government,
Joan Comorera from PSUC, was outraged by preparations for evacuation. He issued an order which suspended all industrial and commercial activities in Barcelona for the week starting Monday, 23 January; the declared purpose was to enable all employees to take part in fortification works. Legality of his decrees was highly dubious, yet no-one decided to challenge him. Some scholars claim that Comorera was becoming the
de facto mayor of Barcelona, if not president of the entire Generalitat; as there were first signs of power vacuum gradually emerging in the city, it was reportedly being filled by energetic, resolute and determined individuals like Comorera.
Sunday, 22 January It was Sunday with offices, shops and working places closed, yet in some places the spirit of resistance seemed to rule. The CNT-UGT liaison committee decided to support Comorera. Also heads of some departments of the Catalan government ordered their employees to abandon daily work and present in the nearest military command centre. A plan to plant explosives along metro lines and all major installations of the city emerged among some Anarchists; they were to inflict massive losses at advancing Nationalist troops if they make it to the city, even at the cost of disastrous damage to urban infrastructure. The suggestions were immediately quashed by Negrín. The spirit of resistance was enhanced when some 1.900
International Brigades volunteers arrived in the port of Barcelona, transported by ships from Valencia. However, many thought the city was not defendable. Quoting "les poques possibilitats de vencer les tropes franquistes" Escofet ordered also
Mossos d'Esquadra, the regional police of some 1.000 people, to leave the city and move north. Members of Esquadres and Mossos started to disappear from city streets. Another sign of crumbling Republican administration was suspension of postal services (officially only reduced), due to males having been in military service. Evacuation works in offices of both central and autonomous governments were ongoing, for the time being reduced to selection, packing and loading documentation; however, some cars were already heading out of the city towards the north. Among those who left there was
Largo Caballero, Antonio Machado and
Luis Araquistaín. As usual on Sunday, cafes and cinemas remained opened. During the day Nationalist soldiers were seen in
Monistrol d'Anoia and
Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, 30 km from
Plaça de Catalunya.
Monday, 23 January requetés advance across Catalonia, January 1939 The cabinet meeting – as it would turn out, the last one in Barcelona – was concluded a few hours after midnight. Martial law was declared on the entire republican territory. Negrín passed on the information, just received from Rojo, that attempts to mount a last line of resistance along the Llobregat failed and most likely counter-action of Republican troops would be reduced to manoeuvrable defence on the right and the left bank of the river. The government decided to release a declaration claiming the cabinet stays in Barcelona. However, just when it was being published over the radio (in Spain newspapers usually did not go out on Mondays), Negrín ordered to begin evacuation of all government offices. The order was implemented immediately, and scramble for available vehicles began. In line with Comorera's decree, all workplaces were closed, though probably rather few of employees reported to fortification works. Trams ceased to circulate. Convoys of vehicles were loaded with chests containing documentation, while smoke of burning papers started to emerge from some official buildings. Starting early afternoon all institutions, organizations and entities with any vehicles and petrol available – from
Institució de les Lletres Catalanes to
fábrica aeronáutica Elizalde - were already busy preparing for evacuation, and some inhabitants with improvised means appeared on roads leading north of Barcelona. CNT, FAI and
Juventudes Libertarias staged a plenary session; they decided to move to
Figueres, but stuck to the idea of defending the city and entrusted
García Oliver – who attended briefly – with this task. He ordered a dedicated staff meeting for later in the day, and when no-one showed up, in the evening he left Barcelona. At the time young Anarchist militants were roaming the city mobilising whoever they found to join the defenders. Some PCE members like
Sánchez Arcas or
Hidalgo de Cisneros also left, alike members of the Basque government, e.g.
José Antonio Aguirre and Manuel Irujo. Executive committees of PSOE and UGT decided to evacuate. Having rejected plans to destroy all goods stored in harbour warehouses, the undersecretary for supplies
Antonio Cordón decided to distribute foodstuffs among residents; the order was delayed by bombing raid of 45 German and Italian aircraft. Some attempts were made to organise departure of hospitals with wounded combatants; it is estimated there were some 20.000 of them in the city. However, little or nothing has been done. Director general de la Sanidad,
Josep Puche, managed to organise transport of few hundred, but most were left in their beds, taken care of by who remained of the sanitary personnel. Rojo gave new defensive dispositions; commanders of both armies and their divisions moved headquarters to the left bank of the Llobregat. In the afternoon Rojo advised Negrín to leave the city; the prime minister left in the evening. By that time the Nationalists seized
Garraf,
Vallcarca,
Gelida, and
Sant Esteve de Sesrovires, some of these locations 25 km from Plaça de Catalunya.
Tuesday, 24 January in Barcelona During the night, around 3 AM, Catalan president Lluís Companys left the site of Generalitat and drove north; he would return to Barcelona 21 months later, as a prisoner to be executed. The minister of interior
Paulino Gómez ordered
Guardia de Asalto to evacuate towards
Girona; at this point the city was left with no forces of order. However,
SIM remained on duty; its units were evacuating prisoners, e.g. 600 inmates from Modelo were moved out, among them
bishop Polanco and
Domingo Rey d'Harcourt; no killings took place. Many inmates were left in their cells until arrival of the Nationalists, some with the intention to hand them out for slaughter. In chaos some, like the
POUM leader
Julián Gorkin, managed to escape. POUM leaders who remained on liberty met; most opted to flee, though some decided to remain and fight. The last Barcelona-based issue of the official gazette,
Gaceta de la Republica, was published. In the early hours of 24 January Rojo issued his last defence orders, particularly anxious to prevent encirclement by Nationalist troops advancing north of Barcelona; this would cut off evacuation routes leading towards Girona. He ordered the destruction of all bridges on the Llobregat, confirmed Saravia as commander of GERO, Modesto as commander of troops holding the frontline and
José Riquelme as commander of Barcelona. Rojo left the city shortly afterwards. Riquelme held a staff meeting, but the same day later he was dismissed by Negrín, already in Figueres.
José Brandaris, the new commander of Barcelona called from
Menorca, was unfamiliar with the Catalan frontline; he voiced his concerns and eventually was re-nominated the commander of
Olot. Command in Barcelona fell on Colonel
Jesús Velasco Echave, at that point the head of coastal defence; he had never managed to assume new duties. Throughout the day Barcelona started to look like a ghost city. When
Andre Malraux visited the Comissariat de Propaganda, a huge building previously bustling with various activities, the only person present was a porter. CNT headquarters was also empty. Various accounts provide recollections of empty offices with floors covered in papers and telephones ringing incessantly, no-one there to take calls. Offices, shops, factories were either closed or empty; public transport including the metro was not operating, shortages in electricity supply caused shutdowns in entire quarters. Most high officials had already left, but there were exceptions. Comorera insisted on the execution of his decrees and tried to organise contingents of workers to dig trenches west of the city. Zugazagoitia and Cordón were still at their posts. ; Nationalist troops approach destroyed
Llobregat bridge In the very late hours General Saravia, commander of what was left of the GERO, gathered members of the press corps in his office. He informed them that Barcelona would be declared an open city, with no combat envisioned on its streets; he asked the journalists present the make the news public in their afternoon editions. The reservation was rather pointless, as on 25 January almost no newspapers, except
La Vanguardia, would be issued. When he was making his statement, the Nationalists controlled almost the entire right bank of the Llobregat, from Manresa in the north to
Martorell,
Sant Andreu de la Barca,
Pallejà,
Sant Vicenç dels Horts,
Sant Boi de Llobregat, to
El Prat on the Mediterranean coast. They were at the outskirts of the city, in some points just 8 km from Plaça de Catalunya.
Wednesday, 25 January Since the morning hours the first Nationalist patrols appeared on
Serra de Collserola, hills immediately west of the city;
Tagueña urgently had to move the staff of his XV corps from
Sant Pere Martir to
Sant Adrià de Besòs, north-east of Barcelona. His superior and commander of all frontline troops, Modesto, drove from his HQ in
Vallvidrera to see Saravia; he met also fellow PCE heavyweights
Uribe,
Delicado,
Mije, and
Carrillo. When Modesto returned to Saravia few hours later, he found the premises empty; the general had already left for Girona. Comorera,
Antón and Carrillo kept discussing deployment of particular combat groups, their objectives and possible scenarios, but this had no tangible impact on military developments. A last-minute initiative was this of
general Asensio, who suggested that command of the city be transferred from the military to the Anarchists; Negrín –contacted over the phone- refused. Around mid-day the mayor,
Hilari Salvadó i Castell, left the city. The first cases of looting had already taken place on 23 January, but two days later it was widespread. Magazines in the Barcelona harbour, warehouses and large storage deposits came first, then looting started to affect high street shops, cafeterias (all closed by the time), empty institutions or any places where robbers expected to find any valuables. The usual booty in the city, which for months was suffering from food shortages and rationing, were foodstuffs: canned meat, chocolate, coffee, flour, oil, vinegar, sugar, beans and others, though people were also seen carrying rolls of textiles, paper, domestic or office machinery and other goods. Fights between individuals or groups competing for the same prize were breaking out. They ceased only during a bombing raid, as 6 German
He-111s and 3 Italian
SM-79s again targeted the port facilities. A British
destroyer, anchored in Barcelona, took aboard the last British citizens and set sail towards
Marseille, though the captain intended to return. Press staff were among the last to leave the city, and the news agency Fabra closed later during the day.
La Vanguardia, the only newspaper which appeared on the street this morning, ran a huge headline
El Llobregat puede ser el Manzanares de Barcelona, a reference to rebel troops having been defeated at the gates of Madrid in late 1936. The daily assumed a somewhat nationalist tone when in its sub-header it announced that
Spanish troops heroically contain attacks of Italo-fascist divisions. Groups of youths from JSU were constructing street barricades in spots indicated by Tagueña. It is not clear when the discharged commander of Barcelona Riquelme left the city. During the late evening hours Andre Malraux,
Max Aub (who both worked in the local film studio on a documentary movie) and
Palmiro Togliatti left the city. When night fell, except for Modesto and Tagueña there were no high military commanders in place.
Thursday, 26 January According to many accounts the night from Wednesday 25 January to Thursday 26 January was a bizarre, unique and unforgettable experience. The great city of 1 million residents looked uninhabited; empty littered streets were covered in darkness and almost total silence. In some spots small groups were loading items on makeshift vehicles hoping for late evacuation, in others rare patrols of armed men were walking in an unclear direction, while single individuals with bags or cases on their backs, most likely booty from looting, were sneaking around. In few places groups of youths were busy erecting barricades, at times until after dawn and until they were informed that Nationalist soldiers had already been seen behind their backs. Distant fire from small arms was heard from time to time, with echos reverberating across empty, silent streets. Among the last organized Republican activities was the transport of prisoners; some departed from Barcelona during the very early hours of the day. The only municipal service operational was the fire brigade; one of its last interventions was in the JSU headquarters during the morning, when in an attempt to burn documentation the fire got out of control and engulfed the entire building. At the time Modesto nominated Tagueña –both residing in makeshift headquarters in Sant Adrià de Besos- as the one responsible for holding the frontline from
Montjuïc to Serra de Collserola. However, this was of little relevance. Since early morning
Carlist patrols from the
Navarrese Corps of
general Solchaga started to descend from Vallvidrera and
Tibidabo hills to the
Sarrià district. Somewhat later, but still prior to mid-day, sub-units of
Cuerpo de Marruecos of
colonel Yagüe moved east of
Esplugues. Resistance in trenches dug a few days earlier was overcome, and the Moroccans appeared in the district of
Sants. Minor and isolated fighting took place in the hills west of Barcelona, mostly around Tibidabo. : Young women celebrate Nationalist entry to Barcelona Around mid-day Nationalist patrols started to penetrate the
Diagonal, while grouplets of Republican defenders –at times insulted by women– fled to the north. Some looting continued. Tagueña was still in Sant Adrià; he lost contact with whatever Republican units remained operational. Comorera was warned about Nationalist soldiers nearby when still in Hotel Ritz. In early afternoon the first white flags started to appear on balconies and windows. In a few cases minor shootouts occurred where isolated groups of defenders –e.g. Mossos d'Esquadra at Plaça Borràs– offered resistance. In the late afternoon the Nationalists started to occupy major buildings, e.g. the town hall. The last organized defenders, including Tagueña and Comorera, left towards Besos. In the evening there were more and more people appearing on the streets, cheering the Nationalists. Among what the Nationalist press later dubbed as scenes of indescribable enthusiasm, instances of frenetic hysteria were by no means rare, with men and women on their knees kissing the
rojigualda standards or uniform sleeves of Nationalist soldiers. Republican supporters preferred to stay at home. When night fell there were no islands of resistance, and Barcelona was entirely controlled by the Nationalists. ==Aftermath==