Acción Española (, ''Spanish Action'') or AE was a Spanish cultural association active during the

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

, meeting point of the ultraconservative and far right intellectual figures that endorsed the restoration of the Monarchy. It was also a political magazine of the same name. The group was heavily influenced by ''

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'' both in its name and its

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

Stanley G. Payne Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American historian of modern Spain and Europe, European fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Dep ...

, ''Spain's First Democracy: The Second Republic, 1931-1936'', 1993, p. 171 Constituted in October 1931, the cultural association was inaugurated on 5 February 1932, Eduardo González Calleja, ''Contrarrevolucionarios. Radicalización violenta de las derechas durante la Segunda República, 1931-1936'', 2011, pp. 51-52 following the founding of the journal on 15 December 1931.

Formation

AE began life in December 1931 as a journal organised by doctrinaire monarchists. It was edited by Ramiro de Maeztu. Drawing in followers of the former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma de Mallorca, Palma, on the island of Mallorca, he was the seventh child in a family of t ...

and the

ultraconservative Ultraconservatism refers to extreme conservative views in politics or religious practice. In modern politics, ''ultraconservative'' usually refers to conservatives of the far-right on the political spectrum, comprising groups or individuals wh ...

wings of Social Catholicism and

Carlism Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

, the group that developed around this journal promised to revive a strong

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

monarchy. AE soon adopted an antisemitic discourse in imitation of similar movements in Europe. It soon built up contacts abroad, notably with ''

'', the ''

Integralismo Lusitano ''Integralismo Lusitano'' (English: "Lusitanian Integralism") was a Portugal, Portuguese integralism, integralist political movement founded in Coimbra in 1914 that advocated Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalism but not conservatism. I ...

'' and

National Syndicalist National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. F ...

movements in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and individual members of the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

of Italy. The group's close links with Portuguese groups were driven by a strong belief in

Hispanidad (, typically translated as "Hispanicity") is a Spanish term describing a shared cultural, linguistic, or political identity among speakers of the Spanish language or members of the Hispanic diaspora. The term can have various, different implicat ...

and a desire to see a return to the values of '' La Raza'', which they felt had been abandoned in Spain. They also established a front political party, '' Renovación Española'', in March 1933.

Development

The group committed itself to a new Catholic monarchy based on the principle of ''instauración'' or installation, where the new monarchy would be strongly

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

and corporatist in nature. It has been argued that the ideas of AE, rather than the Falange, had the strongest influence on

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

, as his eventual state featured a corporatist Cortes, a reliance on the military and the continuation of existing elites as promoted by the AE. AE attracted some leading figures in Spanish society, with members of the group including the poet José María Pemán, the militarist Jorge Vigón Suero-Díaz and the film-maker Ernesto Giménez Caballero. Members of AE set up a 'conspiratorial committee' in late 1932, meeting at the regularly at the

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

home of Juan Antonio Ansaldo to plan a restoration coup. A substantial amount of money was spent stockpiling arms, whilst Lieutenant-Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante was given responsibility for building up subversive cells in the army. However, despite continuous plotting, no coup was ever launched by the group. The organization's co-founder, the famed political theorist Ramiro de Maeztu was summarily executed by a Republican death squad in the early days of the Spanish Civil War. The cultural association was shut down since 6 August 1932 until 3 May 1934. José María Pemán, Víctor Pradera, , Pedro Sainz Rodríguez, Ramiro de Maeztu, the , José Calvo Sotelo, José Ibáñez Martín, Agustín González de Amezúa, Juan Antonio Ansaldo, the , Manuel Pombo Polanco, Eugenio Vegas Latapié and the were among the members of its late (following the 1934 reopening of the cultural association) executive board.

In Francoist Spain

Because the AE was not a political party, it was not absorbed into the

Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (; FET y de las JONS), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...

, although it was closely associated with that movement and AE members held leading positions within the group. A conflict broke out in April 1938 when leading AE member Eugenio Vegas Latapié was deprived of his seat on the FET y de las JONS National Council, leading to less co-operation between the AE and the

Francoist State Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...

. Vegas Latapié and Ansaldo were involved in plotting against Franco around 1940 and 1941, although the AE as a group was not involved.Payne, ''The Franco Regime'', p. 295

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accion Espanola 1931 establishments in Spain Magazines established in 1931 Defunct political magazines published in Spain Monarchist organizations Organisations of the Spanish Civil War Alfonsists Antisemitic publications Catholicism and far-right politics Monarchism in Spain Defunct Spanish-language magazines Magazines with year of disestablishment missing Far-right publications