Requeté was founded in 1907 by Juan María Roma as a Carlist sporting and outdoor grouping for teenagers; in 1913 it was re-organised by Joaquín Llorens as a paramilitary structure. Following a period of decay, in the early 1930s the organisation experienced enormous growth and in 1935 it was re-shaped along more sophisticated military lines by José Luis Zamanillo and José Enrique Varela. Prior to the Spanish Civil War the structure did not envision battalion-type units; its largest component was a requeté, roughly comparable to a company. In Catalonia the strength of the organization was estimated as 3,000 first-line volunteers and some 15,000 in auxiliary units. Following the failed coup of July 1936 they found themselves in total disarray, some killed, some captured, some in hiding and some fleeing the region.