On January 26, 1939, Nationalist forces entered and occupied Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia and the seat of the Republican government, after a rapid advance through the region. The fall of Barcelona was a catastrophic blow to the Republic, as it lost its largest city, its industrial base, and its connection to the French border. The occupation was followed by mass arrests and executions of Republican supporters, as Franco's forces consolidated their control over the region.

The fall of Barcelona inspired a final wave of Republican poetry, with writers chronicling the fall of the city and the flight of refugees. The poetry of this period was marked by a tone of elegy and farewell, as poets said goodbye to their homeland. The fall of Barcelona also marked the beginning of the long exile of Spanish intellectuals, who would continue to write about the war from abroad.