Hello and welcome to the history page. This week we will pick up the
thread of our story in July 1936 with the outbreak of civil war across
Spain. Although there is much more that could be said about pre-war
society in Ibiza and Formentera, I will limit myself to reiterating the
general political tenor of the islands as borne out by the three
elections held during the Second Republic.
Political Composition of the Pitiuses
Without going into an exact breakdown of the different parties
represented at the polls, I will simply give the results in terms of
right versus left. In Ibiza, the 1931 elections (which ushered in the
Reformist Biennium) gave a rightist-centre victory in the ratio of 68%
to 32%, while in Formentera the same elections gave a leftist victory in
the ratio of 85% to 15%. The 1933 elections (which ushered in the Black
Biennium) gave a landslide rightist-centre victory in Ibiza in the ratio
of 92% to 8%, while in Formentera the abstention of the anarchists
resulted likewise in an unusual rightist-centre victory in the ratio of
56% to 44%. The 1936 elections (which ushered in the short-lived Popular
Front) gave a purely rightist victory in Ibiza - by this time Spain’s
political centre had caved in - in the ratio of 80% to 20%, while in
Formentera the leftist victory was a rather close shave at 57% to 43%.
Although it would appear from the foregoing that public sentiment in
Ibiza swayed strongly to the right and in Formentera tended somewhat
inconsistently to the left, in actual fact the average man in the
campo harboured no political sentiments whatsoever. In his brief but
thoughtful pocket book, La Guerra Civil a Eivissa i Formentera
(1936-1939), Artur Parron holds that: “Between the two blocks lay
the great majority of the population, extremely passive and far removed
from the processes of political dispute.” Nonetheless, for our purposes,
we can perhaps resolve this dilemma by qualifying that the
politically active portions of the Pitiusan population
adhered to the foregoing tendencies.
The Outbreak of War
War
was served in Spain on 17th July, 1936 when Franco’s ‘African
Army’ set forth from Morocco intending to overthrow the Second Republic
in one fell swoop. The General’s plans, however, did not take into
account the fierce popular and military resistance, most notably in
Madrid and Barcelona, that would thwart the effectiveness of the coup
and give rise to a three-year civil war, one of the bloodiest in
contemporary history. The Balearics was drawn into the theatre of war on
19th July when one of Franco’s top conspirators, General
Goded, (leader of the Catalonian offensive) seized Palma de Majorca. In
the strict military sense, Ibiza was left untouched at this point,
although the maximum military figure on the island, Rafael García
Ledesma (Captain of Infantry), lent his support to the National cause
and declared a state of war in the Pitiuses.
Summering Commandant Takes Command
As
it happened, when war broke out Juli Mestre, Commandant of Infantry -
and therefore García Ledesma’s superior - was summering in Ibiza as was
his yearly custom. On 20th July, Mestre was assigned military
control of the island and immediately began to mobilize the troops on
hand. As these were in short supply, the Commandant enlisted the aid of
numerous local volunteers who readily (too readily, as we shall see)
rallied to the National cause. In short time Mestre had at his disposal
the 143 professional military officers who were stationed in Ibiza, some
30 guàrdia civils, a division of customs officers as well as a
make-shift contingent of civilian volunteers that has been estimated at
150 to 200 men.
This
civilian component was made up of the more conservative elements of
Ibicenco society, including some extreme rightwing adherents such as
Falangists and Carlists (i.e. monarchists who advocated the restitution
of a long-extinct line of Bourbons to the Spanish throne). Many retired
military men and civil guards, experienced in the use of firearms, also
came forth to lend the Commandant their able-bodied support. These
volunteers were incorporated into the patrol squads that were sent to
the villages to maintain public order and repress any pro-republican
activities as well as survey the coastline for unwarranted maritime
activity.
Suffice it to say that within the space of a week Mestre had marshalled
enough manpower to overcome any possible opposition from local leftwing
factions which, in addition to being scant in number, were gravely
lacking in internal cohesion. Mestre’s only misgiving - which
subsequently proved accurate - was his feeling that certain elements
within the customs division could not be counted on to uphold the
anti-republican cause. His suspicions were borne out during the
Republican occupation of the island when the customs divisions in both
Ibiza and Majorca switched loyalties and banded with those who wished to
conserve Spain’s legitimate government. (Readers will remember from our
overview that the very heart of the Spanish Army was divided into two
ideological blocks: the Unión Militar Española and the Unión Militar
Republicana Antifascista.)
Formentera
Meanwhile in Formentera, the elected representative for the Popular
Front, Joan Riera i Yern, had been ousted from office on 19th
July and replaced by the former rightist mayor, Joan Serra i Torres, who
had held office during the Black Biennium. The rightwing thus regained
control of the administrative level of Formenterenc society, but lacked
military backing to bolster their position. To this end, Mestre sent a
small detachment of 23 soldiers to the lesser isle, thus hoping to
discourage any potential rebelliousness from anarchist quarters. In one
sense, the Commandant’s ploy worked inasmuch as the mere presence of the
detachment served to keep civil order in check without the use of
violence. With one exception, the systematic persecution of leftist
sympathizers had not yet come into play at this stage of the game. (The
exception occurred on 6th August when five Formenterencs were
sent to jail in Dalt Vila.) In another sense, however, Mestre’s plan
backfired in that, during the imminent Republican occupation of Ibiza,
the professional fighting forces at the Commandant’s disposal were
reduced as a result of his posting soldiers in Formentera.
Closing
Also, as we shall see next week, many of his civilian volunteers backed
out as soon as real military action reared its ugly head. Join us then
for the continuing story. |