He was in Brussels when the German invasion in 1940 forced him to return to Spain, where he was received with undisguised hostility by the new Francoist authorities, despite having been the cultural attaché of their Embassy in Belgium and having signed in 1937 a manifesto -promoted by Francesc Cambó- in support of the nationalist side in the Civil War; while Carlos Godó, the owner of "La Vanguardia", prevented him from returning to his position in the newspaper. As a consequence he lived in Madrid, as general manager of the "Editorial Plus Ultra" publishing house.