''El Alcázar'' (meaning ''The Fortress'' in English) was a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

far-right newspaper published in Spain between 1936 and 1988.

History and profile

''El Alcázar'' was established in 1936. The paper was founded as the principal nationalist mouthpiece during the

Siege of the Alcázar The Siege of the Alcázar was a highly symbolic Nationalist victory in Toledo in the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War. The Alcázar of Toledo was held by a variety of military forces in favour of the Nationalist uprising. Militias of th ...

in homage to the defenders of the

Alcázar of Toledo The Alcázar of Toledo ( es, Alcázar de Toledo, ) is a stone fortification located in the highest part of Toledo, Spain. It is a large quadrangular building measuring 60 meters on a side, framed by four large towers 60 meters high, each crowned ...

.From text quoted in González, 424 It mainly focused on military news. During a short period which spanned from 1966 to 1968, the paper opened itself to the more moderate tendencies of the

Francoist 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, Spani ...

regime . However, its direction changed in 1968 and ''El Alcázar'' renewed with its support of

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 ...

ideology, especially after it was converted into the official newspaper of the ''Confederación Nacional de Ex Combatientes'', organization grouping militants defending the essences of Franco's regime who fought in the Spanish Civil war, in June 1975. Following

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 ...

's death in November 1975 and the beginning of the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

, the newspaper became the mouthpiece of the ''

Búnker The was a far-right faction during the Spanish transition to democracy. The group of hardline francoists opposed political and social reform. Its steadfast refusal to compromise led to its name of "bunker". Under the presidency of Carlos Arias Na ...

'', a group of Francoist and

ultramontanist Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...

militaries and leaders opposed to democracy. Between 1977 and 1981, they published various articles from the Colectivo Almendros which publicly declared itself in favor of a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

, one a short time before the

23-F 3F or 3-F may refer to: * Fagligt Fælles Forbund * Fangio, Farina, Fagioli - drivers of the Alfa Romeo factory team * 3 Fonteinen - Belgian brewery, specializing in gueuze and kriek * 0x3F, ASCII code for question mark The question mark (al ...

attempted putsch. Following the self-dissolution of

Blas Piñar Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanish far right politician. Having connections to Catholic organizations, during the Francoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (''Instituto de Cultura ...

's ''

Fuerza Nueva New Force ( es, Fuerza Nueva, FN) was the name of a far-right political party in Spain founded by Blas Piñar, director of the Institute of Hispanic Culture and longtime ''procurador'' in the Cortes Españolas during the Francoist period. Origi ...

'', francoist far-right party, the newspaper published in 1983 a call for the creation of a new far-right party, materialized by the foundation of the ''

Juntas Españolas Juntas Españolas was a far-right political party in Spain that was created in 1983 after a call had been issued in the now-defunct newspaper ''El Alcázar'' by the newspaper's director, Antonio Izquierdo. The group also followed the failure and s ...

''. The circulation of ''El Alcázar'' declined between 1970 and 1975. Its circulation was 13,119 copies in 1975, 26,724 copies in 1976, 63,646 copies in 1977 and 66,104 in 1978. The increase in its circulation continued until 1980. ''El Alcázar'' closed in 1988 as a result of poor sales. Antonio Izquierdo served as the paper's last editor. By the end of the paper's run, circulation was primarily among

veterans. In November 1994 the ''

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

'' sentenced the Spanish State to pay 3 billion pesetas (€18 million) to the owners of the defunct newspaper for discriminating it from official advertising, public subscription and subsidies by socialist governments. The money was used to pay the debts that Dyrsa, company holding the header had with the Social Security, public finances and ex-workers.Article published with new of the High Court sentence
''El Mundo'', 18 November 1994 (in Spanish)

Notable people

Jorge Claramunt, Jesús Evaristo Casariego, Jesús Ercilla,

José Luis Cebrián José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

Fernando Vizcaíno Casas Fernando Vizcaíno Casas (1926–2003), was a Spanish labour lawyer, journalist and writer. His writings were generally supportive of Francoist Spain. During the 1970s and 1980s he collaborated with the director Rafael Gil Rafael Gil (22 May 1 ...

Enrique Jardiel Poncela Enrique Jardiel Poncela (15 October 1901 – 18 February 1952) was a Spanish playwright and novelist who wrote mostly humorous works. In 1932-33 and 1934 he was called to Hollywood to help with the Spanish-language versions shot in parallel to ...

Rafael García Serrano Rafael García Serrano (11 February 1917 – 12 October 1988) was a Spanish writer and journalist who held a Falangist ideology. As a teenager he joined the Spanish Falange and participated as a combatant on the Nationalist side in the Spanish C ...

José Antonio Gurriarán José Antonio Gurriarán (7 July 1938 – 31 March 2019) was a Spanish journalist and assistant director of the ''Pueblo'' newspaper. He was the founder of the second chain of Canal Sur. Biography Gurriarán was born in Valdeorras (Orense). I ...

Alfonso Paso Alfonso Paso (12 September 1926 – 10 July 1978) was a Spanish dramatist. He wrote over a hundred plays, mainly light comedies, sometimes laced with black humour and tragedy. There were also police dramas and examples of what he called "social the ...

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcazar 1936 establishments in Spain 1988 disestablishments in Spain Defunct newspapers published in Spain Far-right politics in Spain Publications established in 1936 Publications disestablished in 1988 Spanish-language newspapers Fascist newspapers and magazines

History and profile

Notable people

See also

References