The Begoña Bombing was an attack in the

Basilica of Begoña The Basilica of Begoña (or Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Begoña in Spanish) is a basilica in Bilbao, in Spain, dedicated to the patron saint of Biscay, the Virgin Begoña. The current parish priest is Jesús Francisco de Garitaonandia. Histo ...

in the

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

neighbourhood in

Begoña Begoña or more puristically but also more rarely spelled ''Begoina'', meaning 'the lower foot' (of Mount Artxanda), is a historical municipality of Biscay ( Basque Country, Spain) which was incorporated into Bilbao in 1925. Originally it include ...

on 16 August 1942, during the first period of the

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

(1936–1959), in which a

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

, thrown by the

Falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...

, caused seventy minor injuries. The act was interpreted as a failed attempt on the life of

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimists (disambiguation), Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon dynasty ...

General

José Enrique Varela José Enrique Varela Iglesias, 1st Marquis of San Fernando de Varela (17 April 1891 – 24 March 1951) was a Spanish military officer noted for his role as a Nationalist commander in the Spanish Civil War. Early career Varela started his milita ...

, the Minister of the Army.

History

In early August 1942 at the end of a

Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

for fallen Carlists 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, lin ...

celebrated at the church of San Vicente de Abando in Bilbao, shouts were heard against the Falangists. A Falangist "old shirt" from Bilbao considered it a provocation and asked the Deputy Secretary of the

Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...

(FET y de las JONS), José Luna Meléndez – a Falangist close to "El Cuñadísimo"

Ramón Serrano Suñer Ramón Serrano Suñer (12 September 1901 – 1 September 2003), was a Spanish politician during the first stages of the Francoist dictatorship, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the FET y de las JONS caucus (1936) ...

– to organize a response since on 15 August there was to be a Carlist commemoration of their fallen at the Basilica of Begoña in Bilbao which would be presided over by the Minister of Defense, General Varela.Suárez Fernández, Luis (2011), Franco. Los años decisivos. 1931–1945. Ariel, Barcelona, pp. 221–224. (Spanish) On the eve of the celebration, the Commander of the Falange Militia of Bilbao informed his Regional Head, based in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

, that among the attendees at Begoña would be Basque nationalists disguised in Carlist uniform with weapons ready to provoke an incident. That same day, 14 August, "after having received instructions", Eduardo Berástegui, the Head of the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU) of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, and an "old shirt" named Hernando Calleja Calleja left

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. In

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

they picked up Juan José Domínguez Muñoz who, like Calleja, had just returned from the Eastern Front where they fought with the

Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer D ...

. They returned to Bilbao during the early morning of 15 August. The Mass in honour of the fallen Carlists began at 11:30 a.m. at the Basilica of Begoña. At the end of the ceremony, the Falangists began to rebuke the attendees who responded with cries such as “Long live the King!”, “Down with State Socialism!” and “Death to Franco!” and suddenly Juan José Domínguez threw two bombs which caused a number of injuries and which almost reached General Varela. Domínguez and his accomplices were detained and General Varela immediately informed

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

of the events. He also called Minister of the Interior Valentín Galarza Morante to demand surrender of the detainees to the military courts to be subject to a summary

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. At the same time he sent a note to the eight

Captaincy General A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule a ...

in which he said the attacks were against the army. The Falangist Ministers

and José Luis de Arrese, who were on vacation, returned immediately to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and there, together with José Antonio Girón, also a Falangist Minister, tried to prevent the conviction and execution of the detainees and downplayed the incident. They sent their own representative to Bilbao. In the meantime, Franco continued his vacation in Galicia as if nothing had happened and did not react until 24 August, nine days after the attack. That day he called General Varela by telephone who told him there had been an attack against him and only luck saved him from death to which Franco responded: "Everything is to be done with great fairness, because in the case of a provocation things will vary". Of the eight Falangists involved in Begoña, Domínguez and Calleja were condemned to death. On 15 July Calleja's sentence was commuted. Domínguez however was shot. Francisco Franco used the incident at Begoña to unseat the Falangists from power, including his brother-in-law Ramón Serrano Suñer, Foreign Minister, Valentín Galarza Morante, Minister of the Interior, and General José Enrique Varela, Minister of Defense. He also removed Head of the Falangist militia, José Luna Meléndez, despite having declared his loyalty to ''Generalísimo''. His replacement was Manuel Mora Figueroa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begona Bombing 1942 in politics 1942 crimes in Spain 1942 disasters in Spain Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1942 20th-century terrorist incidents in Spain August 1942 events History of Bilbao Attacks on churches in Europe Grenade attacks Fascist terrorism Building bombings in Spain Church bombings Spain in World War II Events that led to courts-martial 1940s in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Explosions in 1942 Attacks on religious buildings and structures during World War II