Luis Antonio Bolín Bidwell (1897 Málaga – 3 September 1969) was a Spanish lawyer, journalist and tour-operating expert. That led to his appointment as Head of the National Union of Catering and Allied Attorney in Parliament during the first four legislatures of
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
. In his memoirs, he simply uses the
English spelling, Bolin.
Early life
Bolín was born into a well-to-do family of wine merchants in
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, in 1897. His mother was
English. He studied at the Universities of Granada and Madrid, and later in London.
Career
During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Bolín worked in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
with the British Army as a war correspondent. In 1920, he was
press attaché at the Spanish Embassy in London. He also became a correspondent for the conservative and monarchist Spanish newspaper ''
ABC'', and in 1921, he became a member of the information section of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
. He was an ardent
monarchist
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. C ...
and opposed the coming of the Spanish Republic in 1931 after the abdication of
Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...
. He was even more alarmed by what he perceived as the revolutionary tendencies that started after the electoral success of the Popular Front in early 1936 and believed that they could not be controlled by the legal government. In 1928, Bolín became the regional delegate of the Spanish National Tourist Board in
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
, the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
and the
Spanish protectorate in Morocco
The Spanish protectorate in Morocco was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protectorate.
The Spanish protectorate consisted of a norther ...
by royal appointment.
Spanish Civil War
In late May 1936 in
Reigate
Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...
, Bolín and his family met with Paco Andes, a former cabinet minister of
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...
. Before Bolín left, Andes pulled him aside and said, "something is brewing in Spain. No date has been fixed, but something is bound to happen soon. Are you willing to act?" To this, Bolín replied that he was "more than willing" and "expressed the hope that General
Franco would
direct the rising", according to his memoir.
In July 1936, Bolín played an important role in the events leading up to the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
by organising the flight of a
de Havilland Dragon Rapide
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its outd ...
aircraft from
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
to the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
to transport General Francisco Franco from the Canaries to
Spanish Morocco. Franco arrived on July 19 in
Tétouan
Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...
to lead the insurrection and to prepare the transport of the troops to the mainland. That was some days after the murder of
José Calvo Sotelo, which triggered the generals to start their rebellion earlier than foreseen, on July 18. Otherwise the rebellion would have come probably a few weeks later. The flight itself was planned over lunch at
Simpson's-in-the-Strand
Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in Strand, London, the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy Hotel, Savoy. Th ...
, where Bolín met with
Douglas Francis Jerrold, the conservative
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
editor of ''
The English Review'', and Major
Hugh Pollard. Pollard contracted Captain
Cecil Bebb as pilot and took his daughter Diana Pollard and one of her friends to pose as tourists.
[Robert H. Whealey]
''Hitler And Spain''
January 2011
Immediately thereafter, Bolín flew to Rome to request in the name of Franco the delivery of twelve bombers with a sufficient number of bombs. At first,
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
refused, because he did not have proof that the initiative was backed up by General
Emilio Mola to whom he had promised help in 1934. On July 25 Mussolini gave his permission to the delivery after a message from Mola that consented. The bombers were necessary to break the blockade of the Moroccan waters by Loyalist Spanish warships and enable Franco's troops to reach the mainland. Bolín was passenger of one of the nine bombers that reached Spanish Morocco safely. Two planes crashed, and one made a forced landing in
French Morocco
The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the ...
.
In return for his assistance, Bolin was appointed by Franco honorary captain of the
Spanish Foreign Legion. Other Legion officers did not take Bolín seriously since he knew nothing of military matters. He also became Franco's chief press officer and during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
was responsible for taking journalists on tours of the various battlefields. His fierce advocacy for Franco earned him the dislike of left-wing journalists. According to
Noel Monks, whenever correspondents came across a group of newly executed
Republicans, typically behind a farmhouse in a recently captured village, Bolín would spit on them and call them "vermin". Bolín ensured that no correspondents were allowed into
Toledo for two days following
its occupation on 27 September 1936. He harboured a particular hatred for
Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...
and vowed that if he ever laid hands on him, he would "shoot him like a dog". After the fall of Málaga to Italian forces, which had been sent by Mussolini to support Franco’s rebellion, Koestler was sheltering with Sir
Peter Chalmers Mitchell, a 72 year-old-retired zoologist (and driving force behind Whipsnade Zoo), who had also provided safe haven to Bolín’s own uncle and aunt and their five daughters during the early months of the rebellion. Bolín arrested them both.
Mitchell was quickly released thanks to his diplomatic connections, but Koestler languished for several months in a fascist prison under a death sentence. The episode is recorded both in Mitchell's memoirs and in Koestler's ''
Spanish Testament''. Bolín's efforts during the Civil War could not outdo the clever propaganda of the Republican government, which he claimed had generally a much better hearing in the western media only because the rebels had no telephone facilities and so messages from journalists working in their territory reached the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
much later.
Later life
In 1967, Bolin published his memoirs, ''Spain, the Vital Years''.
Southworth, Herbert R., ''Conspiracy and the Spanish Civil War: The Brainwashing of Francisco Franco''
Retrieved 10 July 2012 He died in 1969.
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
External links
Retrieved 10 July 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolin, Luis
Writers from Málaga
1894 births
1969 deaths
Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)
Spanish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Members of the Cortes Españolas
Spanish male journalists
19th-century Spanish journalists
19th-century Spanish lawyers
Tour guides of Europe
Spanish propagandists
Perpetrators of political repression in Francoist Spain
Arthur Koestler