Finally Francisco Jarrín y Moro, then bishop of Coria, established a philanthropic society, "Sociedad Esperanza de Las Hurdes", in 1908. This first organized move attracted many participants in certain key cities keen to take initiatives in order to alleviate the backwardness and superstition of the region's inhabitants. Maurice Legendre, French Catholic intellectual and head of the French Institute in Madrid, visited Las Hurdes in 1912 and denounced the historical neglect of the region. In 1914 he invited his friend and fellow intellectual Miguel de Unamuno to travel through las Hurdes. Legendre visited the region again in 1922 with an official "Comisión Sanitaria"; led by his friend Doctor Gregorio Marañón the latter prepared the ground for the royal visit the same year.