The Workers' Front of Catalonia (, FOC) was a clandestine political movement in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

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 ...

, formed in 1961, and active during the

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caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

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 ...

. It was the continuation of the Popular Democratic Association of Catalonia (''Associació Democràtica Popular de Catalunya''), one created by university students inspired by liberation theology and the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

. The party's abbreviation "FOC" corresponds to ''foc'' meaning "fire" in Catalan.

History

FOC challenged the

Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party not from a sovereign state to be a full membe ...

(PSUC) over control of the growing

Workers' Commissions The Workers' Commissions () since the 1970s has become the largest trade union in Spain. It has more than one million members, and is the most successful union in labor elections, competing with the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), which is ...

(CC.OO). FOC established a hold over the Metalworkers' union, and thus had a lot of influence over the

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Workers' Commission for a brief moment. It aligned itself with the Popular Liberation Front (FLP) and the

Euskadiko Sozialisten Batasuna The Euskadiko Sozialisten Batasuna (, ESBA) was a clandestine political movement in the Southern Basque Country, Spain, formed in 1959, and active under Francoist Spain. It was the Basque sister organization of the Spanish Popular Liberation Front ...

(ESB). FOC published ''Revolució'' (1961-1962), ''Presencia Obrera'' (1964-1965) and ''Poder Obrero'' (1969). The party dissolved in 1970.

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, former head of government of Catalonia, was a leading member of FOC. Other leaders of FOC were

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Alfonso Carlos Comín Alfonso Carlos Comín Ros (1933 in Zaragoza – 23 July 1980 in Barcelona) was a Spanish industrial engineer, politician, and polygraph who carried out his work in Catalonia. Biography He was the son of Jesús Comín Sagüés, an Aragonese pr ...

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and

Miquel Roca Miquel Roca Junyent (Bordeaux, France, 20 April 1940) is a Spanish lawyer and politician from Democratic Convergence of Catalonia. He is one of the Fathers of the Constitution in Spain. Early life Miquel Roca i Junyent was descendant to two Ca ...

References

* http://www.marxists.org/catala/enciclopedia/people/f/r.htm *"El Front Obrer de Catalunya
(PDF)
IV Jornades d'Història del Socialisme Fundació Rafael de Campalans 3 i 4 de novembre de 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Workers' Front Of Catalonia Defunct communist parties in Catalonia Anti-fascist organizations Anti-Francoism 1961 establishments in Spain Political parties established in 1961 1970 disestablishments in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1970