In September 1936, two months after the outbreak of the Civil War, the German consul wrote a letter to the Republican Generalitat requesting the release of two German citizens accused of espionage, not forgetting to mention that Germany had recently released two Spaniards. The two German citizens, who were on the Modelo, were released. However, in a letter, the Republican Generalitat expressed its surprise at the fact that both claimed they were hiking in the Pyrenees but were carrying no documentation and were taking photographs of the fortifications. This is just one example of all the documentation, some of it unpublished, that shows the efforts made by the Republican Generalitat in terms of foreign relations during the Civil War, and that can be seen in the National Archive of Catalonia.

Former Madrid President Esperanza Aguirre, out of the political spotlight since 2017, continues to stir up controversy. As she has done on other occasions, she has once again whitewashed the 1936 military coup and has not held back when it comes to defending the dictatorship over a democratic regime like the Second Republic. In an interview with The CountryAguirre acknowledges that Franco's regime imposed "a repressive dictatorship," but says it "allowed the middle class to emerge." "Of course, how would those who had been killed have opportunities to advance? But Spain grew exponentially," she adds, downplaying the repression suffered by all those who fought against fascism.