Association of Friends of the Pallerolls-de-Rialp to Andorra Way

August 5, 2006

Tags: Spanish Civil War, Crossing the Pyrenees

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) one of the ways of getting from the Republican to the Nationalist zone of Spain was to get across the Pyrenees to France, and then enter Spain again via Hendaye. Saint Josemaria was one of many people who followed one or other of the tracks across the mountains. His particular group crossed the Catalan Pyrenees of Seu d’Urgell into Andorra, and from there went to France. Like the others, his group followed the mountain paths used by shepherds and smugglers, known only to locals. These routes go through remarkably varied and very beautiful scenery that are part of the cultural and historical heritage of the region.

The route that Saint Josemaria and his friends took was not much used for the following forty years, but is now being restored by the “Association of Friends of the Pallerolls-de-Rialp to Andorra Way”. With the help of members and volunteers, this Association aims to restore the paths of the region that had been used by generations of mountain folk, and also to promote wider knowledge of the events that took place between November 19 and December 10 1937, when Saint Josemaria escaped to Andorra with other refugees, in circumstances of great physical and mental suffering.

Feast of the Finding of the Rose

With the indispensable help of the local authorities and inhabitants of the places through which the route passed, the Association has been fulfilling the objectives it set itself, one after the other. Specifically:
- The paths of the route are being cleared, marked and conserved, especially by summer work-camps organized for students which put in more intensive and continuous work on the project.
- Significant buildings, such as the church at Pallerols and its sacristy, are being rebuilt or repaired.
- Guidebooks and maps have been produced to enable people to follow the exact route taken by Saint Josemaria and his companions; there are also organized trips along various stretches of the route.
- Testimonies have been gathered from the people who met Saint Josemaria during those days in 1937, and from locals with an intimate knowledge of the mountain paths.
- Support has been provided for cultural, social and historical research into the area of Alt Urgell and the Barony of Rialp.
- St Josemaria’s journey has given rise to the tradition of a “Feast of the Finding of the Rose”, which recalls how, on 22 November 1937, St Josemaria found a gilded wooden rose in the ruins of the church at Pallerols. He always saw this event as a loving answer from our Lady to his prayers, telling him that he should continue on his journey. A commemorative Mass is celebrated in the restored church of Pallerols, which has a side-altar dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. The Mass is followed by a family celebration and a walk around the area.

Josep Cirera, the guide of St Josemaria’s group

The website www.pallerols-andorra.org contains plenty of information in Spanish, including maps, photographs of the tracks, news, and accounts by Josep Cirera, the guide of St Josemaria’s group, and other witnesses. It will shortly be translated into English.