On February 3, Yves Klein left for Madrid to study Spanish. Initially, Claude Pascal and Yves had planned an initiatory round-the-world tour, but health problems made it impossible for Pascal to take part.
In Spain, Klein signed up at a judo club, where he soon became a monitor — a function he was to hold regularly. He became very close to the school’s director, Fernando Franco de Sarabia, whose father was a publisher.