The Spanish Civil War saw the violent suppression of the Abbey of Montserrat. Of the 278 priests and 583 religious men and women killed in Catalonia by Republican forces, 22 were monks of the Abbey of Montserrat. During the rule of Francisco Franco, Santa Maria de Montserrat was seen as a sanctuary for scholars, artists, politicians and students. Franco's men were often waiting for wanted people a few miles down the road. From the 1940s onward, Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey was often seen as a symbol of Catalan nationalism.