''El Comunista'' ("The Communist") was the official publication of the

Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...

. The

Socialist Youth of Spain Socialist Youth of Spain ( es, Juventudes Socialistas de España) is the youth organisation of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in Spain. Headquartered in Madrid, the organization was founded in 1906 and is aligned internationally with ...

(''Juventudes Socialistas de España''; JSE), like the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

(''Partido Socialista Obrero Español''; PSOE) that it was associated with, had been a proponent of the

Second International The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...

, an organisation of socialist and labour parties. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, there was an influx of new and more left-leaning members to the JSE, which caused it to diverge from the PSOE. One of these members was Juan Andrade, who joined the JSE in 1916 and became editor of the official JSE newspaper, ''Renovación'', in 1919; the ''Renovación'' then began printing articles supporting the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

. On April 15, 1920, at the Fifth Congress of the JSE, the membership voted to break off from the PSOE, and founded the

, leaving behind a small group that wished to rebuild the Socialist Youth of Spain, which continues to exist. The new party changed the name of ''Renovación'' to ''El Comunista'', similar to the name of the official newspaper of the PSOE, '' El Socialista''. Andrade continued as the founding editor of ''El Comunista'', and in the first issue he published the statutes and thesis to be discussed at the new party's First Congress. The PSOE went through a similar schism at the following year's Congress, when the more left-leaning members (the ''terceristas'') split off to form the Spanish Communist Workers' Party on April 13, 1921, after the PSOE had voted to join the International Working Union of Socialist Parties and reject the Communist International. A few months later, on November 14, the year-old Spanish Communist Party and the newer Spanish Communist Workers' Party merged to form the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving a ...

,S.G. Payne,''The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004; pg. 12. at which point ''El Comunista'' became ''La Antorcha'', with Andrade continuing as editor.

References

{{Reflist Communist newspapers published in Spain Newspapers established in 1920 1921 disestablishments in Spain 1920 establishments in Spain Publications disestablished in 1921 Defunct newspapers published in Spain Spanish-language communist newspapers