"Those who you see now undone, battered, angry, flattened, unshaved, unwashed, dirty, tired, biting, disgusted, shattered, are, however, do not forget never whatever happens, they are the best of Spain, the only ones who, really, have risen, with nothing, with their hands, against fascism, against the military, against the powerful, for justice alone; each in his own way, in his own way, as they have been able, without caring about his comfort, his family, his money. Those that you see, Spaniards broken, defeated, overcrowded, wounded, sleepy, half dead, still hoping to escape, are, don’t forget, the best of the world. It is not beautiful. But it's the best thing in the world. Don't ever forget it, son, don't forget it."
Max Aub (1968) Almond Field

In 2019 it was 80 years since the end of the Spanish Civil War and the flight of Spanish Republicans to France, North Africa and the American continent. The Retreat was a mass diaspora, estimated at about 480,000 people, long lasting and plural because it included people from all social, political and economic strata, from simple wage earners or housewives to a very large number of intellectuals, around 5,000.

Both those and subsequent generations of exiles express a sense of oblivion on the part of Spanish democracy. The anniversary became a magnificent opportunity for Spain to recognize its exiles and make known its contributions both to the progress, development and modernization of the host countries, to which the corresponding tribute is due, and to the recovery of democracy in our country.

That was the objective of the interministerial commission created by agreement of the Council of Ministers on November 16, 2018. This commission manages, promotes and coordinates a complex program of public events of all kinds that have three common objectives:

• To convey a message of tribute and recognition to the members of the Spanish Republican exile and their descendants.
• To recover for Spanish society the memory of the Spanish republican exile, and to make known their contributions to the restoration of Spanish democracy and the development of the countries in which they settled.
• Send a message of thanks to the society and institutions of the host countries.