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THE END OF A PROJECT

The expectations were frustrated for almost fifty years: the Residencia de Estudiantes was one of the projects cut short by the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.

After the military uprising, Jiménez Fraud, taking advantage of the presence of foreign students, managed to obtain diplomatic immunity for the Residencia. Intellectuals such as Ortega y Gasset, Dámaso Alonso, and Menéndez Pidal found a safe haven until their departure into exile or to Valencia. The Residencia de Señoritas continued its activities for a while, but without María de Maeztu, who, like Jiménez Fraud, left Spain in 1936. In 1937, the Residencia de Estudiantes was converted into a military hospital. Dr. Luis Calandre, a former house physician and director of its Laboratory of Microscopic Anatomy, was its director until the end of the war. Thanks to him, the laboratory preserved its facilities.

At the end of the War, Franco decreed the dissolution of the JAE and its centers. The Poplar Hill radically changed: the Central Pavilion became a residence for researchers of the newly created Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and the auditorium was converted into the Church of the Holy Ghost. Many of the former residents remained in Spain, while others were victims of repression or went into exile, where they could continue with their lives and careers.