Los Solidarios (“Solidarity”), also known as Crisol (“Crucible”), was a Spanish anarchist armed-struggle group founded in 1922 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, as a reply to the

dirty war The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as ...

strategy used by the employers and government against trade unions.

Los Solidarios

''Los Solidarios'' was created as a successor of a previous group called '' Los Justicieros'' (“The Avengers”), created in San Sebastian by Durruti and local anarchists such as Ruiz, Aldabatrecu, Marcelino del Campo or Suberviola. The group was integrated by anarcho syndicalists, and it set up a network in order to buy and store guns, with which to attempt on members of the

Sindicatos Libres The ''Sindicatos Libres'' (Spanish for "Free Trade Unions"; ca, Sindicats Lliures) was a Spanish company union born in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was established by Carlist workers, and remained active during the early interwar period (the late stag ...

, (“Free Trade Unions”), an employer-obeying organization. ''Los Solidarios'' are considered responsible for bank robberies, such as the Bank of Spain Robbery (September 1923), and for the murder of the

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

cardinal

Juan Soldevilla y Romero Juan Soldevilla y Romero (29 October 1843 – 4 June 1923) was a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Zaragoza from 1901 until his death, and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1919. Biography Juan Solde ...

(1923). After that, and pressured by the

Primo de Rivera Primo de Rivera is a Spanish family prominent in politics of the 19th and 20th centuries: *Fernando Primo de Rivera (1831–1921), Spanish politician and soldier *Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930), nephew of Fernando, military officer and dictat ...

dictatorship,

Durruti José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was a Spanish insurrectionary, anarcho-syndicalist militant involved with the CNT and FAI in the periods before and during the Spanish Civil War. Durruti played an in ...

Francisco Ascaso Francisco Ascaso Abadía (Almudévar April 1, 1901 – Barcelona July 20, 1936) was the cousin of Joaquín Ascaso, the President of the Regional Defence Council of Aragon,Jesús Mestre i Campi, ''Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya'', Edicions ...

and other members fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and then to

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, where they were charged with more robberies. They returned to Europe, settled down in France, and were charged with attempting on

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

on a visit to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, so they had to live clandestinely. They were expelled from France and settled down in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, where they were allowed to stay. With the advent of the

Spanish Second Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

(1931), some of the members that had been able to return to

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

decided to enter the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) (“Iberian Anarchist Federation”), as a group called ''Nosotros'' (“Us”), holding more radical points of view than those of the FAI itself. When 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 ...

broke out, the group dissolved as such, but they kept working inside the FAI. Juan García Oliver, member of Los Solidarios, stated in a speech, whose recording has survived, that the members of the group, were the best working-class terrorists and "the kings of Barcelona's workers pistol", the ones with the best chance to strike back against the “white terrorism” directed towards workers by the employers, such as the murders of Salvador Seguí and

Francesc Layret Francesc Layret i Foix (10 July 1880 in Barcelona – 30 November 1920 in Barcelona, Spain) was a Spanish politician and lawyer, Catalan nationalist and republican. He was assassinated in 1920 following the mass detention of several of his co ...

Members

Some of the members of “Los Solidarios” were: *

Juan García Oliver Joan Garcia i Oliver (1901–1980) was a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist revolutionary and Minister of Justice of the Second Spanish Republic. He was a leading figure of anarchism in Spain. Career Childhood and family Joan Garcia i Oliver was ...

* Aurelio Fernández Sánchez *

Buenaventura Durruti José Buenaventura Durruti Dumange (14 July 1896 – 20 November 1936) was a Spanish insurrectionary, anarcho-syndicalist militant involved with the CNT and FAI in the periods before and during the Spanish Civil War. Durruti played an in ...

Antonio Ortiz Ramírez Antonio Ortiz Ramírez (Barcelona, April 13, 1907 – April 2, 1996) was a prominent member of the National Confederation of Labor and the Iberian Anarchist Federation. He dedicated himself to woodworking throughout his life, held various posit ...

* Ramona Berni i Toldrà *

Gregorio Jover Gregorio is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Gregorio Conrado Álvarez (1925–2016), Uruguayan army general and de facto President of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985 * Gregorio Álvarez (historian) (1889–1986), ...

* Antonio Martín Escudero * Miguel García Vivancos * Pepita Not * Rafael Torres Escartín * Ricardo Sanz García *

Francesc Sabaté Llopart Francesc () is a masculine given name of Catalan origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francesco, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Cesc Fàbregas (Francesc Fàbregas i Soler) (born 1987), Spanish professional football ...

* María Luisa Tejedor

Legacy

Singer-songwriter

Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio José Antonio Julio Onésimo Sánchez Ferlosio, better known as Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio (Madrid, April 8, 1940 – July 1, 2003), was a Spanish singer-songwriter, and the author of numerous songs performed by other artists, such as Rolando Alarc ...

wrote a song called “Homenaje a Los Solidarios” (“Homage to Los Solidarios”), about the group.Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio singing the song (Spanish)
/ref>

Notes

References

*. *{{citation, first=A., last=Bar, title=La CNT en los años rojos: (del Sindicalismo Revolucionario al anarcosindicalismo , 1910-1926), publisher=Akal, year=1981. * Paz, Abel, ''Durruti, le peuple en armes''. París, Tête de Feuille, 1972. Terrorism in Spain Anarchist organisations in Spain Defunct anarchist militant groups Illegalism Left-wing militant groups in Spain Defunct anarchist organizations in Europe