page_title: Anarchism in Spain
section_title: Franco years
hierarchical_section_title: Anarchism in Spain / History / Franco years
caption_attribution_description: Federica Montseny speaks at the historical meeting of the CNT in Barcelona on 1977, the first one after 36 years of dictatorship in Spain.
context_page_description: Anarchism in Spain has historically gained much support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of classical anarchism.
  There were several variants of anarchism in Spain, namely expropriative anarchism in the period leading up to the conflict, the peasant anarchism in the countryside of Andalusia; urban anarcho-syndicalism in Catalonia, particularly its capital Barcelona; and what is sometimes called "pure" anarchism in other cities such as Zaragoza. However, these were complementary trajectories and had many ideological similarities. Early on, the success of the anarchist movement was sporadic. Anarchists would organize a strike and ranks would swell. Usually, repression by police reduced the numbers again, but at the same time further radicalized many strikers. This cycle helped lead to an era of mutual violence at the beginning of the 20th century in which armed anarchists and pistoleros, armed men paid by company owners, were both responsible for political assassinations.
context_section_description: When Francisco Franco took power in 1939, he had tens of thousands of political dissidents executed. The total number of politically motivated killings between 1939 and 1943 is estimated to be around 200,000. Political prisoners filled the jails, which were twenty times more populous than before the war.  Forced labor camps were opened up, where, according to historian Antony Beevor, "the system was probably as bad as in Germany or Russia." Despite these actions, underground resistance to Franco's rule lingered for decades. Actions by the Resistance included, among other things, sabotage, releasing prisoners, underground organizing of workers, aiding fugitives and refugees, and assassinations of government officials.
  Little attention was paid to the Spaniards who refused to accept Franco's rule, even by those who had been against him during the war. Miguel García García, an anarchist jailed for twenty-two years, describes their circumstances in his 1972 book: "When we lost the war, those who fought on became the Resistance. But to the world, the Resistance had become criminals, for Franco made the laws, even if, when dealing with political opponents, he chose to break the laws established by the constitution; and the world still regards us as criminals. When we are imprisoned, liberals are not interested, for we are 'terrorists'".
  The guerilla resistance (referred to in Spain as Maquis) was effectively ended around 1960 with the death of many of its more experienced militants. In the period from the end of the war until 1960, according to government sources, there were 1,866 clashes with security forces and 535 acts of sabotage. 2,173 guerillas were killed and 420 were wounded, while the figures for government forces lost amount to only 307 killed and 372 wounded. 19,340 resistance fighters were arrested over this time interval. Those who aided the guerillas were met with similar brutality; as many as 20,000 were arrested over the years on this charge, with many facing torture during interrogation.
  The Spanish government under Franco continued to prosecute criminals until its demise. In the earlier years, some prisons were filled up to fourteen times their capacity, with prisoners hardly able to move about. People were often locked up simply for carrying a union card. Active militants were often less fortunate; thousands were shot or hanged. Two of the most able Resistance fighters, Jose Luis Facerias and Francisco Sabater Llopart (often called Sabaté), were simply shot by police forces; many anarchists met a similar fate.
  During World War II, Spanish anarchists worked with the French Resistance, engaging in actions both on the homefront and abroad. They worked especially to smuggle Jewish families into Spain, forging passes for them and helping them find safety, in order to protect them from Nazi oppression.
  The then-underground CNT was also involved. In 1962, a secret Interior Defense section was formed to coordinate actions of the resistance.
  The Anarchist Black Cross was re-activated in the late 1960s by Albert Meltzer and Stuart Christie to help anarchist prisoners during Franco's reign. In 1969, Miguel García García became International Secretary of the ABC.
caption: Federica Montseny speaks at the 1977 historical meeting of the CNT in Barcelona, the first one after thirty-six years of dictatorship in Spain
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