During the civil war, approximately 700,000 children were evacuated from the major cities to safe areas within eastern Spain called"colonias infantiles" (children's colonies) in order to escape the effects of long range artillery and aerial bombardment, a new form of mechanized warfare.

The colonies were usually established along the coast or in the mountains, often in abandoned country estates and mansions.

They were staffed with resident teachers to meet the educational, emotional and physical needs of the refugee children who were dealing with the psychological impact of having recently become orphans or the emotional impact of being separated from their parents. At least two centres were built with Canadian funds. One was opened in a former eighteenth-century convent in the village of Agullent near Barcelona another was opened in a Barcelona residence known as the "Pines".

As the war progressed, other children from the Basque region were evacuated to the south of France and private relief agencies arranged further evacuations to England, the Soviet Union, and Mexico.

In Canada and the United States private campaigns were launched to provide humanitarian aid to the evacuated children particularly to those living in the colonies, and to collect funds for food and medical supplies. In 1937 alone, ten thousand dollars was raised in Canada for this purpose.