Building La Casa de España: The Spanish Intellectual Experience in Mexico City, 1938-1941.

Opened in Mexico in August 1938, La Casa de España (The House of Spain) provided Spanish intellectuals displaced by the Spanish Civil War with a location to continue their studies. Although intended to be temporary, the following years saw La Casa gain permanence in Mexican higher education as it grew in membership and educational significance. Today, its predecessor, El Colegio de México (est. 1940), remains a permanent fixture of higher education and intellectual interaction. To understand Mexico's provision of aid to Spanish intellectuals, this thesis examines early 20th-century Spanish immigration to Mexico and the development of La Casa de España from 1938 to 1941. Immigration laws between 1926 and 1936 gave preferential treatment to Spaniards for their capacity to easily assimilate into Mexican society based on their ability to maintain a mestizo demographic identity. Spanish intellectuals represented an even more favorable population as they contributed both the educational knowledge and professional experience desired. In the eyes of the Mexican government, Spanish intellectuals could not only culturally advance Mexico but provide aid to a nation rebuilding its intellectual population