The Spanish Syndicalist Movement () was a Spanish

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

political movement and predecessor of the

Falange Española Falange Española (FE; English: Spanish Phalanx) was a Spanish fascist political organization active from 1933 to 1934. History The Falange Española was created on 29 October 1933 as the successor of the Movimiento Español Sindicalista (M ...

History

The movement, which emerged in early 1933, was founded primarily by

José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...

, writer

Rafael Sánchez Mazas Rafael Sánchez Mazas (18 February 1894 – October 1966) was a Spanish nationalist writer and a leader of the Falange, a far-right political movement created in Spain before the Spanish Civil War. Biography Sánchez Mazas received a law degr ...

, and aviator

Julio Ruiz de Alda Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz (7 October 1897 – 23 August 1936) was a Spanish aviator, and among the founders of the Falange. He joined the Army at the age of 15 and developed an interest in planes. He was the co-pilot (with Ramón Franco) o ...

. Other notable members of the MES were

Dionisio Ridruejo Dionisio Ridruejo Jiménez (12 October 1912 – 29 June 1975) was a Spanish poet and political figure associated with the Generation of '36 movement and a member of the Falange political party. He was co-author of the words to the Falangist anth ...

Alfonso García Valdecasas Alfonso García-Valdecasas y García-Valdecasas (14 May 1904 – 11 April 1993) was a Spanish professor of civil law, lawyer, politician, and founding member of the Falange Española. Biography Alfonso García-Valdecasas was born on 14 May 1 ...

, Manuel Sarrión, and Andrés de la Cuerda. Members of the MES openly embraced

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

and for a time the movement was known as the ''Movimiento Español Sindicalista-Fascismo Español'' (MES-FE, or Spanish Syndicalist-Fascist Movement). It soon became apparent that the MES was to have little political success on its own. In August 1933, José Antonio Primo de Rivera signed the "Pacto de El Escorial" ("El Escorial Pact"), wherein a pact of solidarity was formed between Spanish monarchists and the MES-FE. On 29 October 1933, in the midst of an electoral campaign, the MES held a rally at the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid and re-founded itself as the Falange Española. The Falange Española would be succeeded by the

Falange Española de las JONS The Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (; FE de las JONS) was a fascist political party founded in Spain in 1934 as merger of the Falange Española and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista. FE de las JO ...

, which was itself merged in April 1937 into the

FET y de las JONS 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 ...

, which backed

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 leader of Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Movimiento Español Sindicalista Political parties established in 1933 Defunct political parties in Spain Fascist parties in Spain Second Spanish Republic Spanish nationalism Far-right political parties in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1933