Fleeing Franco How Wales Gave Shelter To Refugee Children From The Basque Country During The Spanish Civil War

the long version

This is the story of how children escaping the Spanish Civil War were given a home in Wales. The year was 1937 and the forces of General Franco were advancing on the Basque city of Bilbao. A few hundred of the children evacuated from the city found a welcome in Wales where they were given shelter in Swansea, Old Colwyn, Caerleon and Carmarthenshire. At a time when the ordinary people of Wales were themselves undergoing terrible deprivation there was a tidal wave of giving to keep these children housed, fed and nurtured. Most of the children eventually returned to Spain but for some their exile stretched to a lifetime.