page_title: Women in the Second Spanish Republic
section_title: Carlists
hierarchical_section_title: Women in the Second Spanish Republic / Political activity / Communists / Carlists
caption_attribution_description: Español: La señorita María Rosa Urraca Pastor.
context_page_description: Women in the Second Republic period were formally allowed to enter the public sphere for the first time in Spanish cultural life, where they had a number of rights they had lacked before including the right to vote, divorce and access to higher education. The Second Spanish Republic had three elections, ones in 1931, 1933 and 1936. Women were able to run in all three and vote in the last two. Clara Campoamor Rodríguez, Victoria Kent Siano and Margarita Nelken y Mansbergen were the most important women to emerge in this period.
  Spanish feminism in this period was typically about "dual militancy," and was greatly influenced by anarchism. It was about trying to understand what role women should play in Spanish life. Women were also politically active in large numbers in this period as a result of constitutional reforms. While allowed in, they were still underrepresented in labor and anarchist organizations like UGT and CNT, and these organizations would often reinforce traditional gender roles.
context_section_description: The Second Republic saw an increase in the number of traditionalist women's organizations, and in Carlist women's groups, as this group felt a need to defend their Catholic beliefs and traditions.  Their numbers were helped by women such as Dolores de Gortázar calling women to defend their views and become involved in that process. Carlists more broadly began using a mix of their traditional rallies and more modern political strategies to increase their political effectiveness and to avoid alienating people and minimize government scrutiny who feared another Carlist war. The group transformed into a propaganda tool for the Communión Tradicionalista party. Members arranged musical evenings, organized religious acts and proselytized in people's homes.
  Some women in the Margaritas came from the women's section of Catholic Action. For many Margaritas, it was important to defend their religion and traditions. Their traditions revolved around creating an earthly version of the Holy Family.  Fathers were in charge, and mothers were pious while their children were obedient.
  One of the key organizational aspects among Margaritas in this period was local, with Margaritas asking that territorial boundaries be respected when it came to their work but also discussing the need for new organizational structures to be discussed. The largest group of Margaritas developed in Navarre, where they enjoyed political legitimacy that their male counterparts lacked.  Women from the area included Dolores Baleztena, Carmen Villanueva, Clinia Cabañas, Josefa Alegría, Isabel Baleztena, Ascensión Cano, and Rosa Erice. Pilar Careaga was the most active and visible Margarita from Valencia and Rosa Urraca from the Basque Country.
caption: María Rosa Urraca Pastor speaking, 1934
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