Colonel Valentín Galarza Morante (1882 in

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

– 1951 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

) was a Spanish officer and

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

politician. He was associated with the

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 ...

tendency within 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 ...

and was critical of the

Falange Falange () is the name of a political party whose ideology is Falangism. Falange primarily refers to: * Falange Española, a Spanish political party active 1933–1934, it merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) * Falange ...

Conspiracies

An early supporter of

José Sanjurjo José Sanjurjo y Sacanell (; 28 March 1872 – 20 July 1936) was a Spanish military officer who was one of the military leaders who plotted the July 1936 ''coup d'état'' that started the Spanish Civil War. He was endowed the nobiliary title ...

, he had been involved in his failed 1932 rebellion, although there was no adequate proof to bring prosecution.

Paul Preston Sir Paul Preston CBE (born 21 July 1946) is an English historian and Hispanist, biographer of Francisco Franco, and specialist in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 50 years. He is the winn ...

, ''Franco'', London, 1995, p. 91 Following the uprising he became involved in attempting to secretly recruit senior officers for future action and one of those he targeted was his friend

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 ...

. He became a founder member of the

Unión Militar Española Unión Militar Española (Spanish Military Union) was a pro-fascist secret society of officers of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces involved in a conspiracy to bring about the restoration of the monarchy during the 1930s. The majority of members o ...

and kept the group in touch with the conspiracies already undertaken by aviator Juan Antonio Ansaldo and officer Juan Vigón. As a consequence of his wide circle of contacts he became part of the conspiratorial group of officers around Franco and

Emilio Mola Emilio Mola y Vidal (9 July 1887 – 3 June 1937) was a Spanish military officer who was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936 that started the Spanish Civil War. After the death of José Sanjurjo on 20 July 1936, M ...

. He was vital to Franco personally as he was the general's link man to the UME. In 1934, he was at the centre of a coup plot when plans were put in place for Ansaldo to fly General Sanjurjo back from exile 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 ...

. The plan was for Sanjurjo to link up with

Juan Yagüe Juan Yagüe y Blanco, 1st Marquis of San Leonardo de Yagüe (9 November 1891 – 21 October 1952) was a Spanish military officer during the Spanish Civil War, one of the most important in the Nationalist side. He became known as the "Butcher of ...

and to lead a coup. However whilst the plotters waited at

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Pedro Sainz Rodríguez Pedro Sainz Rodríguez (14 January 1897 in Madrid – 14 December 1986) was a Spanish writer, philologist, publisher and politician, an adviser to Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and one of the main architects of the reign of Juan Carlos I ...

's house word came through from Franco that the right was not yet ready and for the plan to be aborted. Galarza however remained a central figure in the

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and, based as he was in the War Ministry in

, he was central in passing messages between the generals in the immediate run-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 ...

Government career

Galarza's leading role in plotting the uprising and his good personal relationship with Franco ensured that he was able to secure government office after the civil war. He initially served as the under-secretary of the Presidencia del Gobierno and in this role he was instrumental in keeping Franco in touch with the inner workings of government. On 5 May 1941, he was appointed Interior Minister as Franco moved to check the growing influence of

Ramón Serrano Súñer Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), B ...

by adding leading anti-Falangists like Galarza to the cabinet. Following his appointment, Galarza was the subject of numerous attacks in the Falangist press although he hit back by dismissing all the Falangist under-secretaries in his department, most notably

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 ...

who had written a particularly scathing article against him. However it was Galarza's anti-Falangism that also proved his undoing as his close support of

José Enrique Varela José Enrique Varela Iglesias, 1st Marquis of San Fernando de Varela (17 April 1891 – 24 March 1951) was a Spanish military officer noted for his role as a Nationalist commander in the Spanish Civil War. Early career Varela started his milit ...

led to his dismissal in 1942. Franco feared the growing power of Varela who came to the fore as an opponent of Falangism when he resigned after Falangists attacked monarchists at the

Basilica of Begoña The Basilica of Begoña (or Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Begoña in Spanish) is a basilica in Bilbao, in Spain, dedicated to the patron saint of Biscay, the Virgin Begoña. The current parish priest is Jesús Francisco de Garitaonandia. Hist ...

, and he sought to remove his supporters, including Galarza, from positions of influence.

Later years

Following his dismissal from the cabinet, Galarza became associated with a group of monarchist dissidents on the fringes of Spain's political elite. In June 1943, he was one of a number of leading monarchists to lend their name to a manifesto sent to Franco calling on him to settle the constitutional questions by immediately restoring the monarchy. The plan was rejected however, and Galarza was one of the signatories to be dismissed from the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

for their involvement.Preston, ''Franco'', p. 492

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galarza Morante, Valentin 1882 births 1951 deaths Government ministers during the Francoist dictatorship Spanish colonels Spanish monarchists People from El Puerto de Santa María Interior ministers of Spain