The Commissariat of Catalonia was established in 1932. Almost immediately difficuties began. In February 1934 the Carmelite church was desecrated. In October Communist guards were placed at the door of the priory to prevent the religious from leaving. In June 1936 the mayor forbade religious from teaching in the schools and working in hospitals. Shortly thereafter, a Carmelite was stoned while walking on the street. The only newspaper to defend the religious was closed down on July 18th. The following day churches and monasteries were pillaged, ransacked, and burned. On July 20, the Feast of St. Elijah, the community disbanded.
The story of the Carmelites during this time and a biography of many of the martyred Catalonian Carmelites can be found in the book Profiles in Holiness I by Redemptus M. Valabek, O. Carm., published by Edizioni Carmelitane.
