San José Antonio Primo de Rivera

José Antonio Primo de Rivera was born in Madrid Spain on April 24, 1903. He grew up in a healthy and loving family environment. He was the son of General Miguel Primo de Rivera who was the Leader of Spain from 1923 to 1930. José Antonio studied law in Madrid where he became a lawyer. Strongly influenced by the Italian Fascist Party he set about creating an organization similar in a lot of ways to the Fascists but more uniquely Spanish in nature. On October 29th 1933 at the "Theatre of Play" of Madrid, he gave a speech where he formed the Spanish Falange.

Another group that was very close to the Spanish Falange at the time were the National Syndicalists (JONS) which was headed by Ledesma Ramos. In February 1934 the two organizations joined to become one (FE-JONS) and José Antonio was made it's leader.

In early 1936 José Antonio was elected to the Spanish Parliament known as the Cortes. Being a legally elected official mattered little to the Leftist ruled government in Madrid, to them José Antonio was a symbol of everything they feared, Patriotism, Discipline, Morality and Spirituality. There was no way they were going to allow the Falangists to gain anykind of power in Spain, legitament or otherwise.

When word got back to the Spanish government that Falangists were beginning to arm themselves, they set about arresting the leaders of the Falangist movement throughout Spain, including José Antonio. The so called Republican government never did a thing to stop the Communists and Socialists from arming themselves or the criminal acts perpetrated by these two groups.

The Spanish Falange was declared an illegal organization and on June 5th 1936 José Antonio was incarcerated in Alicante Prison. The Falange grew into one of the most powerful movements in Spain while José Antonio was in prison.

On November 18th 1936, José Antonio wrote, "Condemened to death yesterday, I pray God that if He does not still spare me from coming to that last trial, He may preserve in me up to the end the seemly submission with which I contemplate it, and that in judging my soul He may apply to it not the measure of my merits but that of His infinite Mercy''. Two days later on November 20th, José Antonio was placed up against a wall, and with Prayer on his lips and forgiveness for the enemies about to execute him, he was murdered.

José Antonio died like a Man, he died a Hero, a Martyr and a Saint. It is no wonder that in this day and age of immorality and anti-heroes, that José Antonio stands out like a Beacon of Light with an ever growing popularity and following throughout, not only Spain but the rest of the World as well.

02 Dec 2002