Antonio Aranda Mata (13 November 1888 – 8 February 1979) was a military

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

who fought on side of the

Rebel faction The Nationalist faction ( es, Bando nacional) or Rebel faction ( es, Bando sublevado) was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup ...

in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Biography

Antonio Aranda Mata was born in

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

on 13 November 1888. During the Morocco wars Aranda earned an outstanding record as an engineer and geographer. He participated in the quelling of the 1934 Asturian revolt and rose to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

. At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, in 1936, he was in command of the Oviedo garrison, which joined the coup d'etat against the Republic and quickly took control of the city for the

. Aranda then successfully defended Oviedo from "miners' militias". For his efforts he was awarded the Cross of San Fernando and promoted to the rank of

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

. Aranda participated in several further engagements during the war including the

Battle of Teruel The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in 20 years.Hugh Purcell, p. 95. The battle was one of the bloodiest actions of ...

and the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro ( es, Batalla del Ebro, ca, Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between Ju ...

. He served as captain general of the military region of Valencia. Immediately following the war Aranda was appointed as the head of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1941 he participated in several

clandestine Clandestine may refer to: * Secrecy, the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals * Clandestine operation, a secret intelligence or military activity Music and entertainme ...

actions in favor of the

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

that resulted in irritating the government of Francisco Franco. He was one of a group of pro-British monarchist generals to secretly receive money from British Intelligence

MI-6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligen ...

. He was briefly imprisoned in 1947 for two months. In 1949, Aranda, then a division general, was retired from duty by Franco. Reasons argued by commentators for the cessation include the liberal ideology reportedly espoused by Aranda, his protracted lobbying and conspirations in favour of the installment of a constitutional monarchy (headed by Juan of Bourbon), or, rather anecdotically, an alleged link to

freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. According to the , the latter's cousin Francisco Franco was convinced that Aranda was a freemason. In 1976, after Franco's death, Juan Carlos I promoted Aranda to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. He died in the Hospital del Generalísimo on 8 February 1979.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *
Time (magazine)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aranda Mata, Antonio 1888 births 1979 deaths People from Leganés Spanish generals People of the Rif War Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Francoist Spain