Vicente López Tovar (1909–1998) was a Spanish soldier, politician and anti-Franco guerrilla fighter. He fought for the Republicans 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 ...

, for the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and led a failed invasion of Spain in 1944 to oust

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

. After the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...

Lopez Tovar was decorated with the

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

and the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. A street is named after him in Toulouse, France.

Invasion of Aran Valley

On 19 October 1944, López Tovar led a force of exiled anti-Franco guerrilla fighters from the Unión Nacional Española (UNE), a military organization formed by 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 as ...

but that included

monarchists Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

and other political denominations, across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

mountains into the

Aran Valley Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca) in Lleida (province), Lleida, Catalonia, Sp ...

. The force consisted of 4,000 or 5,000 fighters, depending on the source. The objective was to establish a foothold in Spain from which to launch a full-scale invasion to overthrow Franco. The political leadership of the anti-Franco movement intended to make the city of

Vielha Vielha e Mijaran (; ca, Viella – Mitg-Aran ) is a municipality in Aran, Lleida, Spain. It was created in 1970 by the merger of the municipalities of Arròs e Vila, Betlan, Escunhau, Gausac, Vielha and Vilac: some of the former municipalities re ...

a provisional capital that would give the movement legitimacy and thereby attract the financial and military backing of the Allied Powers for a larger operation. In his memoir, López Tovar writes that he was against the operation because of the lack of equipment and preparation. The invasion was a failure. Franco was aware of the impending arrival of the troops and pursued a

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

strategy that left the UNE with little to capture in the valley outside of the city of Vielha. The guerrillas captured some villages defended by the

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

, but Franco sent reinforcements of 50,000 regular army troops over the

Port de la Bonaigua Port de la Bonaigua (el. 2072 m., 6,798 ft) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees in Catalonia, Spain. It connects Esterri d'Àneu in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Pallars Sobirà with Vielha e Mijaran in the comarca of Aran, Catalonia, Aran ...

and through the Vielha tunnel to defend the city. López Tovar was forced to hastily retreat back into France across the

Pont de Rei The Pont de Rei ( en, King's Bridge, french: Pont du Roi, oc, Eth Pònt de Rei) is a bridge and border crossing over the river Garonne that connects the Aran Valley of Spain with the Haute-Garonne department of France. The road on the French sid ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tovar, Vicente Lopez French Resistance members 1909 births 1998 deaths Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France

Invasion of Aran Valley

See also

References