It was carried out on 12 February 1939 at the behest of Francisco Franco's nationalist government by the Aviazione Legionaria of its Fascist Italian allies.

Carried out in the last days of the Civil War, the bombing hit a train which had entered Xàtiva Railway Station in the morning.

[1] The train was carrying military personnel of the Spanish Republican Army belonging to the 49th Mixed Brigade, which was being transferred to another location.

At the time of the bombing the train was surrounded by a throng of civilians who hoped to greet relatives and friends among the soldiers.

[3] There were so many dead and wounded among the members of the 49th Mixed Brigade, that the Republican high command desisted from reconstituting it, distributing the survivors among other military units.