 He led the very last fighter operations after the Battle of the Ebro with only 30 fighters against some 550 of the combined German and Italian planes under Franco.On February the 6th, 1939, Lacalle left from the Vilajuiga airfield for the Francazal aerodrome near Toulouse in his last I-16 fighter, leading a great part of the planes of the Spanish Republican Air Force to France so that they would not fall in the hands of the enemy.However, immediately upon landing Lacalle was arrested by the French authorities and was interned in the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp located near Perpignan, until he was able to escape to Mexico.