Unión Patriótica: the Official Party

Abstract

The warm welcome the squads of the Federación Cívico Somatenista (FCS) gave to Primo and the King in Barcelona in December 1923 when returning from their visit to Italy should not come as a surprise. The leaders of the pro-fascist group had held conversations with Primo and Martínez Anido in late October that year seeking to turn the FCS into the regime’s official party and were eager to show the dictator that they had the capacity to mobilize popular support.² Captivated by fascist Italy, Primo initially seemed delighted with the idea of having the FCS as a primorriverista nation-wide party. The tracistas were well connected with the military officers of the Barcelona garrison and had shown their devotion to the regime since its very beginnings. However, the dictator soon changed his mind. In late January 1924, a new meeting of the dictator with the tracistas did not lead to the creation of the official party desired by Primo.³ The FCS might have had supporters, if only a few, in Barcelona, but it was virtually unknown outside the Catalan capital. The grand ambition of creating an official party able to mobilize all sectors of society required a further amalgamation of conservative groups. When the UP was finally created in Barcelona in April 1924, the ‘blue shirts’ of the FCS were included, but so were the members of the Unión Monárquica Nacional (UMN) and many others ranging from former liberals to moderate regionalists.

[…] the issue now is Fatherland or Soviets, the nation is attacked by communism, separatism and terrorism […] peoples are now in the Communist destructive bloc or the National constructive bloc. In Spain the latter is the Unión Patriótica neither Liberal nor Conservative, but Patriotic

(José María Pemán)¹