The Balearic Republican Left that stood up to political bossism

PalmIn the Taíno language of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), cacique means 'little Indian king'. In our country, it gave its name to the style of governance characteristic of the Bourbon Restoration (1874-1931), which buried the short-lived First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). Under the reigns of Alfonso XII and later his son Alfonso XIII, power was in the hands of a conservative oligarchy that manipulated election results to its advantage (they even went so far as to have the dead vote). In the Balearic Islands, in most towns, the local political bosses from Madrid had their own delegates, who were mainly industrialists and landowners. These delegates, often with the mediation of the Church, forced workers to vote for a specific candidate. Those who refused risked significant reprisals. This is documented by the historian Isabel Peñarrubia, author of the book Political parties facing caciquismo and the national question (1917-1923)Published in 1991. From Mallorca, however, there was one person who dared to break the political hierarchy imposed from the Peninsula to create his own. He was Joan March (1880-1962), a banker from Santa Margalida, in Verga. In 1918, to gain the support of the working classes, he ordered the construction of the Casa del Pueblo (People's House) in Palma, which would be inaugurated in 1924. He also made peasants landowners by selling them plots of land on credit, which he had bought from landowners. By 1919, the Mallorcan magnate had already taken control of the Liberal Party. The party would become the battering ram against the conservatism of Antoni Maura, from Palma, who, between 1903 and 1922, was president of the Spanish government five times. To gain even more power, in 1921 March launched the newspaper The DayIn the parliamentary elections of April 1923, he won a seat. However, four months later, General Miguel Primo de Rivera staged a coup, imposing a dictatorship that lasted nearly seven years.

Popular Republicanism

In April 1931, King Alfonso XIII was forced into exile, paving the way for the Second Republic. In the first general elections in June, Verga was re-elected to parliament. With Niceto Alcalá-Zamora at the head of the Republic, Manuel Azaña, of Republican Action, was elected Prime Minister. In the 1933 elections, the left saw its representation reduced to 91 seats compared to the 105 won by the CEDA, the right-wing coalition led by Gil Robles. However, Alcalá-Zamora handed the government over to Alejandro Lerroux, leader of the Radical Party, which had won 102 seats. Nevertheless, a year later, that government would include three CEDA ministers. On April 3, 1934, to join forces after the defeat of 1933, Republican Action merged with other progressive groups to become Republican Left (ER). Five days later, the Balearic Republican Left (ERB) was founded in the Balearic Islands. It would be an autonomous party, linked to Azaña, and would have no connection to the Republican Left of Catalonia. It was created from the merger of four other political groups: Republican Action of Mallorca, the Independent Radical Socialist Republican Party, the Federal Republican Union of Inca, and the Leftist Youth of Felanitx.

Although it only existed for two years, ERB would be a key element in the establishment of republicanism among the working classes. This is the argument made by historian Mateu Morro in his recently defended doctoral thesis at the UIB, entitled The Balearic Republican Left and popular Mallorcanism during the Second RepublicTo this end, he has drawn on archives, bibliography, and witnesses he was able to interview in the 1980s. The emergence of the new political group did not sit well with the local political boss Joan March, who had considerable problems with the Second Republic. In 1932, he had been imprisoned for his tobacco smuggling operations. However, 17 months later he was released after bribing the director of the Madrid prison.

Republican and federal

ERB was a republican and federal party. "[Our objective]," stated its statutes, "is the freedom of the Balearic Islands, politically organized under an autonomous, liberal, democratic, republican, and socially just system." Its main leaders were qualified individuals, often with professional backgrounds, such as Emili Darder and Francesc Sales Aguiló from Palma, Bernat Jofre from Andritxo, Antoni Maria Ques from Alcudia, Antoni Mateu from Inca, Josep Serra Pastor and Bernat Marquès from Sóller, and Pere Oliver and Pereus Reu from Felanitx. "They represented," asserts Morro, "a qualitative shift in the history of Mallorcan nationalism and republicanism, moving away from the elitism that characterized many of the heirs of the Renaissance project, such as Joan Estelrich and Gabriel Alomar." The party had a presence on almost all the islands, with nearly 4,000 members, mainly laborers, tradespeople, farmers, and teachers. Its official publication was the weekly newspaper. Republic

The Balearic party always championed the Catalan language and culture. "It sought to reverse," notes the historian, "the provincial and Castilianizing orientation that had prevailed until then in the island's left wing. In June 1936, some of its leaders would sign the Response to the Catalans"In the February 1936 parliamentary elections, ERB joined the Popular Front candidacy. "In the Balearic Islands, despite their efforts, they were unable to overcome the local political bosses or the electoral strength of the right wing, with the exception of Formentera and Calvià. However, across the rest of Spain, the left-wing coalition achieved a clear victory, allowing them to regain power under Manuel Azaña."

Brutal repression

The progressive euphoria would last only five months. In July, the military uprising took place. One of its financiers was the local political boss Joan March, who no longer wanted the Republic to keep score of his expenses. The alternative would be a three-year civil war followed by another 36 years of Franco's dictatorship. The repression against ERB militants was brutal. Morro has documented 240 murders. "The Popular Front's governing committees, formed after the 1936 elections," he points out, "were often chaired by ERB mayors or councilors, which gave the party significant institutional representation. The rebels, therefore, targeted them."

Among the victims of the ERB were nine mayors: Emili Darder Cànaves (Palma) –executed along with his colleagues Antoni Maria Ques and Antoni Mateu–, Joan Mas Verd 'Collet' (Montuïri), Clemente Garau Juan (Porreres), Pere Llull (Pollença), Pau Crespí Villalonga (Mancor del Valle), Pedro Vallespir Amengual (Costitx), Joan Alemán Villalonga (Búger), and Joan Guasch Juan (Santa Eulalia del Río). Other mayors from the party were luckier and only served prison sentences. This was the case of Josep Serra Pastor, the mayor of Sóller, who was pardoned in 1943. Some even managed to escape the island in time. Having taken refuge in Menorca, Miquel Julià from Capdepera and Pere Oliver from Felanitx left for Chile and the Philippines, respectively.

Class betrayal

According to Morro, the repression against ERB leaders was, in some cases, a matter of class betrayal. "The Franco regime could not tolerate that well-to-do people like Antoni Ques, Bernat Marquès, and Pere Reus had sided with the working class. They were not only murdered, but their property was often confiscated." The activists who were ultimately sentenced to prison faced a bleak future upon their release. Pere Capellà, from Algaida, spent four years incarcerated in the Alcalá de Henares prison in Madrid—he was the only intellectual from the Canary Islands to fight on the front lines. Afterward, he was never able to return to his former teaching position. Others were scattered in exile: Francisco de Sales Aguiló in Colombia; Bernat Jofre in Venezuela; Francesc Carreras in Mexico; and Maria Mayol in France.

The Franco regime demonized any left-wing activist. "They were criminalized in every way possible. Thus, little by little, their memory faded into oblivion." After Franco's death in 1975, the biographies of these republicans began to gain wider recognition thanks to the work of researchers like Josep Massot and Llorenç Capellà. Now, Mateu Morro's doctoral thesis adds to this effort. "They were people," he concludes, "who, in the midst of the political bossism, fought for a project of social justice, freedom, and national sovereignty. Their political legacy is invaluable and deserves to be reclaimed."