Fabra was reinstated to his faculty position after the elections of February 1936, but the Spanish Civil War began in July of that year, and he had to flee his country when Barcelona was being invaded by the Francoist army. By 1939 he was in exile in France where he endured many hardships. He lived in Paris and Montpellier, where he presided over the "Jocs Florals" literary competition in 1946. He eventually moved to Prada de Conflent in the Catalan-speaking area of France, where he died on 25 December 1948. At some point during the exile he made his will in Andorra, so that it would be done in a country where Catalan was the official language.