Miguel García García (1908–1981) was a

Spanish anarchist Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of cl ...

and writer. He was a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

during the Franco era. In his youth, García became affiliated with anarchism and his family belonged to the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo ( en, National Confederation of Labor; CNT) is a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions, which was long affiliated with the International Workers' Association (AIT). When working wi ...

(CNT). As a young newsboy, after being hurt at a rally for greater pay, he left Barcelona for France, where he learned the language. During 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 ...

, he drove arms across the French border into

Republican Spain 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 ...

. While his fellow Barcelonans confronted a government building, García led a cohort to raid gunshops in the wealthier part of the city. During the war, he fought on the Saragossa and Madrid fronts, and after the anarchists' defeat, spent two and a half years in a concentration camp where he befriended Josep Lluís i Facerias and

El Quico EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...

. Upon their release, they together joined the

Spanish Resistance The Maquis were Spanish guerrillas who waged an irregular warfare against the Francoist dictatorship within Spain following the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War until the early 1960s, carrying out sabotage, robberies (to help fund g ...

, in which they reorganized the CNT, smuggled guns and people across borders, and sabotaged Franco and the Axis. García was among the few who survived. García was captured in 1949 and sentenced to death, but international pressure led his sentence to be reduced to 20 years in prison. He met

Stuart Christie Stuart Christie (10 July 1946 – 15 August 2020) was a Scottish anarchist writer and publisher. When aged 18, Christie was arrested while carrying explosives to assassinate the Spanish caudillo, General Francisco Franco. He was later alleged ...

in the

Carabanchel Prison Carabanchel Prison was constructed by political prisoners after the Spanish Civil War between 1940 and 1944 in the Madrid neighbourhood of Carabanchel. It was one of the biggest prisons in Europe until its closure in 1998. The structure followe ...

. After his release and exile in 1969 García wrote about his incarceration in ''Franco's Prisoner'' (1971). Reviews compared his autobiography to ''In Hiding'', written by a socialist mayor who opposed anarchists. García's book was translated into German. García became fluent in Italian and learned rudimentary English in prison so as to read the English-language press. He decided to travel across Western Europe to speak against

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 ...

and organize wider resistance. In London, in the mid-1970s Garcia was running the ''

Centro Iberico Centro Iberico, London, in the 1970s was a Spanish anarchist support centre, which after moving into a squatted school building in Notting Hill, London became a self-managed social centre, a live venue and a studio. Origins Centro Iberico was ini ...

'' at Chalk Farm (later in Holborn and, after his death, on the Harrow Road,

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

), a meeting place for sympathetic exiles and anarchist exiles. Through the

Anarchist Black Cross The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), formerly the Anarchist Red Cross, is an anarchist support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organizes material and legal support for c ...

, which published ''Black Flag'', Miguel helped raise funds for Spanish prisoners and their families. He worked with

Albert Meltzer Albert Isidore Meltzer (7 January 1920 – 7 May 1996) was an English anarcho-communist activist and writer. Early life Meltzer was born in Hackney, London, of Jewish ancestry, and educated at The Latymer School, Edmonton. He was attracted to ...

who wrote of García's influence on

The Angry Brigade The Angry Brigade was a far-left British terrorist group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972. Using small bombs, they targeted banks, embassies, a BBC Outside Broadcast vehicle, and the homes of Conservativ ...

, the First of May Group, and the

Iberian Liberation Movement The ''Movimiento Ibérico de Liberación'' (MIL, sometimes known as 1000) was a Catalonia, Catalan Autonomism, left-wing political and urban guerrilla organisationPolitical Terrorism - A new guide to actors, authors, concepts, data bases, theories ...

, among other groups internationally. García died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

References

Selected works

* ''Franco's Prisoner'' ** ''Prisionero de Franco. Los anarquistas en la lucha contra la dictadura. Traducción y notas José Ignacio Alvarez Fernández'' * ''Looking Back After Twenty Years of Jail: Questions and Answers on the Spanish Anarchist Resistance'' * ''Unknown heroes: biographies of Anarchist resistance fighters''

External links

Miguel Garcia articles
at the Kate Sharpley Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Garcia, Miguel 1908 births 1981 deaths Writers from Barcelona Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Spanish anarchists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United Kingdom Spanish expatriates in England 20th-century Spanish male writers

References

Selected works

Further reading

External links