Since 1934, Spain suffered a strong political upheaval, which included a campaign of harassment against Catholics. Communists, Freemasons and radical left-wing groups had become the cruel persecutors of those who wished to live their Christian faith freely. In a few months, more than a thousand Catholic temples throughout the national territory were destroyed, while another two thousand suffered serious damage. From 1936 to 1939, Spanish communists murdered 4,100 priests; 2,300 religious; 283 nuns and thousands of lay people.
Among the many victims were these seven young people from the Hospital Order of Saint John of God, who came to Spain to perfect their nursing studies and work with inpatients at the Ciempozuelos medical center, near Madrid.
One day, at the end of July 1936, a contingent of men sent by the Spanish communist government arrived at the sanatorium where the young ‘hospitalians’ (Order of Saint John of God) were serving with the order to stop the care work and evict the all workers. The objective was to take control of the institution and place employees related to the Marxist government (personnel without medical training or the ability to manage the facility). The young Colombians were taken prisoner and taken to a prison in the capital.