Spanish Civil War refugee remembers Elne MaternityYour browser does not support the video element<p>At the grand old age of 102, Remei Oliva has returned to Elne Maternity hospital for the launch of the Catalan translation of her memoirs as a Civil War exile. When Spain fell to Franco's fascist troops, a 20-year-old Remei was forced flee to France in the winter of 1939. She spent fifteen months in internment camps in Argelès-sur-Mer and Saint-Cyprien, and gave birth to her first child, Rubén, in Elne Maternity hospital, a converted château set up by Swiss schoolteacher Elisabeth Eidenbenz to provide a safe place for pregnant refugees to give birth.</p> / ACNshareACNFirst published: September 20, 2021 04:55 PM