After the purges, most teachers fully identify with the dictatorship. None of them raise their voices: they obey the dictates imposed by Francoism and remain silent. Among the students, however, there is an evolution. Sectors of the middle class have begun to attend university and the atmosphere is becoming less elitist and more protest-oriented. After years of paralyzing fear of reprisals, in the late fifties the student struggle began to gain strength. The constitution of the first Free Assembly of Students in the Paranymph Hall (1957) will be the point of no return.

At the same time, the hundreds of new annual enrolment mean that the Historic Building is starting to become small. For this reason, the rector's office appropriates the expansion plans prepared by the Republican Board of Trustees and considers the future Diagonal Campus. We must not forget that Diagonal, at that time, was known as the Avenida del Generalísimo Franco.

With the second tram strike (1957), portraits of Franco and José Antonio were burned at the University and the academic authorities closed the premises for a month as a repressive measure. And what have the student protesters done with their free time? So take courage and take a decisive step: to convene, for February 21, 1957, the first Free Student Assembly.

The meeting takes place in the Paranymph Hall and brings together around 800 students, who demand the resignation of the Minister of Education and the rector. Finally, the police will end up evicting the participants, who will be forced to hand over their student ID cards to the deans. The consequences are not long in coming: 270 suspended from studies for a year, 300 more forced to pay double tuition fees and 22 arrested and tried, accused of illegal assembly and propaganda. The next day a strike will begin in solidarity with those who have been retaliated against. Student protesters are becoming more and more numerous. There's no one to stop this.

Despite his fierce opposition to the Board of Trustees, Gómez del Campillo appropriated the plans that the Republican Board of Trustees had designed to expand the University's buildings. The transfer of the former Finca Güell to the Barcelona City Council provided an excellent opportunity to build a true university city around Avinguda Diagonal, which at that time was called Avinguda del Generalísimo.

After many years of trying to obtain the necessary budget, the first building on the Diagonal Campus was finally opened in 1957. Although it was initially planned to be a senior college, the honour ended up falling to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Just a year later, the Faculty of Law was inaugurated, with a very innovative design for the time. In fact, he will obtain the first FAD Award for Architecture and Interior Design.

As an aside, students who did not live with their parents or guardians were forced to live in halls of residence. Moral issues of the regime...