''Pistolerismo'' refers to the practice used by Spanish employers during the late

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of hiring thugs to face and often kill

trade unionists A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

and notable workers – and vice versa, most notably present 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 ...

Background

Pistolerismo originated in the developing industrial zones of Barcelona, where

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) started growing rapidly during the start of the 20th century. The power of CNT growing in workplaces (its members increased from 80,541 in 1918 to 845,805 in 1919), resulted in several conflicts between employers and workers regarding the improvement of labor conditions. A particular accomplishment of the labor movement of the time was the Canadenca strike in 1919 which forced the Spanish government to issue the ''Decreto de la jornada de ocho horas de trabajo'' (''Decree for the eight-hour working day''), limiting the

working day The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of t ...

eight hours "Eight Hours" is the tenth episode of the first season of the TNT science fiction drama ''Falling Skies ''Falling Skies'' is an American science fiction television series set in a post-apocalyptic era, created by Robert Rodat and executive p ...

The conflict

Employers responded to the workers' actions by initiating lockouts, discharging workers of their activities and creating company unions, the so-called ''Sindicatos Libres'', to divide the labor movement. Finally, employers started hiring thugs to kill notable syndicalists and the

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

replied by attacks against employers, employers' gunmen, politicians, members of the clergy and police officers. Employers and their gunmen acted with the support or the tolerance of the government, which protected the employers' terrorism while prosecuting the anarchists. The employers' terrorism against anarchists was later supplemented by the campaign of State-terrorism enacted by civil and military governor of Barcelona

Severiano Martínez Anido Severiano Martínez Anido (21 May 1862 – 24 December 1938) was a Spanish general who served in a number of government posts in Spain during the Primo de Rivera and Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the ...

and by the attacks of the ''Sindicatos Libres''. For example, the ''Ley de Fugas'' (''Law for the Fugitives''), which allowed the police to shoot fugitives, was used as a form of extrajudicial execution of syndicalists by security forces. The executions were carried out by announcing to arrested syndicalists that they are free, only to execute them moments afterwards for "trying to escape prison". Notable figures of the labor movement assassinated include the

anarcho-syndicalists Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in ...

Pau Sabater Pau Sabater i Lliró (5 March 1884 in Algerri, province of Lleida – 17 July 1919 in Barcelona) was a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo in Catalonia. He was known also as "el Tero". He was secretary of ...

Evelio Boal Evelio Boal López (Valladolid, 11 May 1884 - Barcelona, 18 July 1921) was a Spanish graphic designer, trade unionist and anarchist. He was one of the organizers of the Congress of Sants of the National Confederation of Labor, forming part of ...

Salvador Seguí Salvador Seguí Rubinat (23 September 1887, in Lleida – 10 March 1923, in Barcelona), known as ''El noi del sucre'' ("the sugar boy" in Catalan) for his habit of eating the sugar cubes served him with his coffee, was a Catalan anarcho-syndical ...

and the lawyer and left-wing politician

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 col ...

. On the other side, anarchists' killings included noteworthy politicians such as

Eduardo Dato Eduardo Dato e Iradier (12 August 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 Nov ...

, who at the time was the prime minister of Spain.

References

Sources

* * * 20th century in Spain History of anarchism History of Barcelona Riots and civil disorder in Spain {{Anarchism-stub