José Bermejo López (1894 in Cartagena,

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

– 1971) was a Spanish

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and colonial administrator.

Biography

Bermejo entered the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

at an early age, where he made his professional career. At the time of the Spanish coup of July 1936 he was posted in

Temsamane Temsamane (Tarifit: Temsaman, ⵜⴻⵎⵙⴰⵎⴰⵏ, Arabic: تمسمان) is a commune in the Driouch Province of the Oriental administrative region of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost c ...

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, in the

Spanish protectorate in Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco ; es, Protectorado español de Marruecos, links=no, was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protect ...

. After the outbreak of the military uprising, Bermejo joined the Nationalist faction and subsequently participated 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 ...

. In May 1940, with 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 of ...

, Bermejo was appointed Politico-Military Governor of Ifni and the Sahara. During the time he held the position, he did an important work in

Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara ( es, Sahara Español; ar, الصحراء الإسبانية, As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used f ...

, establishing the administrative capital in

Sidi Ifni Sidi Ifni ( Berber: ''Ifni'', ⵉⴼⵏⵉ, ar, سيدي إفني) is a city located on the west coast of Morocco, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 20,051 people. The economic base of the city is fishing. It is located in ...

and dividing the territory into three districts. In 1945, he also created the weekly ' (acronym for ''África Occidental Española'' or "Spanish West Africa"), that would soon become the main

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...

of the territory. In 1946 the

Francoist regime 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 ...

made an administrative reform of the African territories, which became the

Spanish West Africa Spanish West Africa (, AOE) was a grouping of Spanish colonies along the Atlantic coast of northwest Africa. It was formed in 1946 by joining the southern zone of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco, the colony of Ifni and the colony of Spanish S ...

. Bermejo continued in his post (now as Governor of the Spanish West Africa), remaining there until August 1949. He was subsequently assigned to the , where he held various positions such as sub-delegate of and delegate of Education and Culture. In 1958 he was appointed information advisor at the

Spanish embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Spain, excluding honorary consulates. The Kingdom of Spain has a large global diplomatic presence. Africa * ** Algiers (Embassy) ** Oran (Consulate-General) * ** Luanda (Embassy) * ** Yaoundé (Embassy) ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, a position he held until 1965.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bermejo Lopez, Jose 1894 births 1971 deaths Military personnel from Cartagena, Spain 20th-century Spanish military personnel Spanish colonial governors and administrators History of Western Sahara Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)