Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A 1936, lokacin da yakin basasar Spain ya fara, ya shiga cikin Fifth Regiment. A shekara mai zuwa, a matsayin babban jami'in soja, wanda ke jagorantar runduna ta 11 na sojojin jamhuriyar, Líster ya taimaka sosai wajen kare Madrid
da sauran muhimman ayyukan soja. A watan Oktoba na 1936 ya jagoranci brigade mai haɗaka a cikin mummunan mummunan aikin Republican a Seseña. A matsayinsa na kwamandan runduna, ya taimaka wajen dakatar da harin 'yan Nationalist tare da Jarama kuma ya taka muhimmiyar rawa a cikin nasarar da' yan Republican suka yi a yakin Guadalajara.