Requetés


The Requetés were members of the Carlist organization, Requeté. As an organised structure it operated between the mid-1900s and the early 1970s, though exact dates are not clear.

Background

Groups named Batallones de la Juventud were recorded in Madrid and Barcelona when staging marches and parades, apparently intended to demonstrate prowess of Traditionalism and perhaps also to intimidate political enemies. Some scholars see these initiatives not as part of freshly born political mobilization among the urban youth, but rather as continuation of the old Carlist "tradition of direct action." They claim that "abortive resumption of violence at the turn of the century" – i.e. a :es:Sublevación carlista de octubre de 1900|series of minor disturbances, staged mostly in Catalonia in 1900 – as their important consequence produced loose "armed squads of Carlists", which engaged in petty urban violence during the following years. These gangs were easily suppressed by forces of order, yet their emergence demonstrated a new phenomenon: mostly urban Carlist militancy, independent of official movement structures and oriented towards street violence.
Juventud Carlista branch was set up at unspecified time in Madrid; since 1903 the organization operated in Barcelona and proved particularly dynamic in the urban Catalan milieu. Mushrooming and loosely-organized groups of Juventud engaged in military drills; they also got increasingly involved in street clashes with hit-squads related to Left-wing politics, especially the Radicals and the Anarchists.

Emergence (1907)

In the early 1900s loose Carlist groups in Catalonia referred to themselves as "requeté", a name that dates back the crack battalion of Navarre in the First Carlist War, distinguished by general Zumalacarregui for their gallantry. Also some correspondents of Traditionalist press used the term as their pen-name. In 1907 a local review Lo Mestre Titas was referred to as "portavoz del requeté escolar" and present-day scholars also consider it an unofficial mouthpiece of local juvenile Carlism. Historians often repeat a theory that the first organization named "Requeté" was set up in Manresa in 1907 by a 37-year-old publisher and propagandist :es:Juan María Roma|Juan María Roma. The principal objective of the organisation was defined as "fem propaganda", and called "joves carlins de Catalunya" to follow suit.
Sporadically requete was explicitly referred as "organized under the Juventud auspices". Most geographical references to requeté were related either to Catalonia or Levante. Since 1910 there were notes related also to Madrid, since 1911 to Andalusia, Aragón, Galicia, Old Castile and Vascongadas, and since 1912 to Navarre and Canarias. However, in various parts of Spain local cells were perceived as emulation of "'Requeté' al estilo de Barcelona".
A party document from somewhat later period claims that originally requeté was intended for older children and younger teenagers aged 12-16, who could not enlist to Juventudes; other notes specify the age limits as 8-15. Historians describe the organization of its constitutive phase as "pacífico y infantil", similar to later Pelayos of the 1930s rather than to a paramilitary organisation. Initially some naming confusion ensued; members of the organisation could have been named "requetés", "requeténs" or "requetenistas".

Early phase (1907-1913)

In 1911 some press titles published an anonymous ordinance draft. Though the draft rulebook envisioned only boys as members, photos demonstrate that there were also girls present, some sources refer to "requeté de damas blancas" and adolescent females served even as standard-bearers.
In Catalonia the first case of receiving a standard was noted in 1910, while in Valencia in 1911. At least basic governing structures started to emerge, usually with president, but at times also with vice-president, treasurer, secretary, librarian or members of junta directiva. Larger local groups started to set-up specialized sub-sections, like sección dramática, de caridad, excursionista, instructiva, ciclista, recreativa, militar, alpina, politico-religiosa, de prensa y propaganda or sección de sport. Since 1911 there are vague references to common gear, usually red or blue berets.
A Catalan Carlist leader associated was Dalmacio Iglesias, allegedly bent on turning requeté into shock troops designed to take part in street fightings. In Valencia the major person related was a retired artilleryman, in the Carlist ranks known as general, Joaquín Llorens; already in 1910 some press titles referred to "requeté d'en Llorens." Among leaders of local groups, in 1910 the president of Barcelona requeté was named as Martin Gibernau; in 1911 it was first :ca:Ferran Bertran i Garcia|Fernando Bertrán and then Valentin Estefanell. Still in 1911, Joaquín Font y Fargas was named "director del requeté jaimista". In 1912 the elected president of Barcelona requeté organisation was Julian Oliver. In other major centers Francisco Alcón Orrico presided over the Valencia branch and Joaquín Castaneda over the Madrid one.

Main activities (1910s)

One of key requeté activities was propaganda. The members were selling party periodicals or pamphlets with Carlist Cortes speeches, distributing free press, leafleting, or tearing down street materials of competitive groups. Propaganda tours might have included small musical bands or parades. Various cultural initiatives were also flavored with Traditionalist propagandistic zeal. They included literary evenings, at times covering also musical pieces, choirs, reading poetry, infantile recitations, journalistic competitions, theatrical performances, dance, music and other "bellas artes". Some gatherings turned into multi-cultural events. A related field was education; some circles organized lectures and at one point there was even an "Academia del Requeté" set up. Standard requeté practice was taking part in religious events, usually field masses, parades or pilgrimages. Members of the group were supposed to practice to become good Christians, e.g. they were expected to take holy communion at least monthly. In some cells there were specific charity sections set up. Among outdoor activities, numerous excursions were usually formatted in-between tourism, religion and propaganda. Marching in organized, disciplined and military-like formations with standards and at times with accompanying music, the members walked to sanctuaries like Montserrat or Poblet; single individuals embarked on longer journeys. Press notes often mentioned requeté members in military foot drills, shooting practice and sports. The discipline mentioned in particular was cycling; football seemed much less popular, and a single case of a climbing group was noted. Trophies involved were named "Copa Requeté".
requeté
Since 1909 Republican press reported numerous incidents of requeté-related violence, ranging from insulting other juveniles to provocative marches, assaults on premises of left-wing newspapers and organisations or attempts to stop tram circulation in order to enforce observance of religious holidays. Hostile press agonized about "juvenil y bizarro ejército" trained for "asesinato, el robo y el incendio", educated in hate and "ready to die and to kill"; in the best case, they were "creatures 8 to 10 years, cigarettes in their mouths and cards in their hands". Progressist authors warned about "burlesca comedia de una guerra civil" and in every second report "requeté" was paired with "browning". There were requeté militants detained by security or court-martialled, clashes with police and Guardia Civil, arms confiscations, or administrative measures applied by civil governors against specific circulos. The :es:Enfrentamiento entre carlistas y lerrouxistas de San Feliú de Llobregat|1911 street battle in Sant Feliú de Llobregat, which left few people dead, might have involved some requeté members. Violence was reported not only in Catalonia, but also in the Vascongadas. Carlist press when discussing violence presented requeté as preventing assaults on churches or ensuring safety during Carlist rallies.

Attempted overhaul (1913)

At times differences led to comical confusion. Some historians suggest that the impulse to reform the organization came from the new Carlist claimant, Don Jaime. Reportedly impressed by the 1908-established French monarchist formation Camelots du Roi, he intended to build a similar structure. Already in 1910 he discussed the plan with Llorens, though his first public references to requeté are dated 1911. General guidelines for a new requeté formula were issued in late 1912; the news soon became public and the first known draft of the re-alignment plan was dated on early 1913. The same year the 59-year-old Llorens was nominated head of Comisíon de Requetés, one of 10 sub-sections of the party executive, Junta Superior Central. This was also the first moment when Requeté was officially recognized by the party as its branch.
Llorens intended to build an organization of disciplined, trained young men, structured in units and capable of co-ordinated action, with a view of forming a future "ejército". He intended to name them "Grupos de Defensa" and Requeté and Juventud were supposed to be sort of training or logistics arrangements. They were to form a network with various command layers, and the entire structure was to remain under supervision of Carlist politicians. A draft attributed to Llorens envisioned that Requeté were to be split into a younger and an older section. A 16-man squad was to be as a basic unit, 4 squads would make a sección and 2 sections would make a company, all commanded by individuals of specific ranks. The draft envisioned also insignia and a grey-colored uniform.
In 1913 a body named Junta Central Tradicionalista Organizadora de los Requetes de Cataluña was set up, with Matías Llorens Palau nominated its president. The Junta issued a number of guidelines intended to discipline and unite existing requeté cells and proceeded with nomination of provincial juntas. Since late 1913 there were sporadic news of dissolving existing structures and creating escuadras as outlined in manuals issued by Junta Organizadora; at times there was only "reorganización" of specific branches mentioned. The same year first requeté units were reported as appearing in public uniformed in gear "modelo Llorens". Some scholars suggest that the attempted reform was largely a failure.

Post-reform organization (1913-1920)

In the late 1910s Carlist youth was reported as engaged in street altercations with other groupings, especially Jóvenes Bárbaros of the Radicals; however, there were also news about clashes with Catalanist and Basque nationalist youth. Not few of these incidents involved use of firearms and produced casualties, including fatal ones. Since 1915 there are news on automobiles used during shooting incidents. In many cases it was the requeté youth which assaulted premises deemed hostile or tried to break down rallies of the opposition. There is also increasingly frequent information on requeté groups sabotaging electoral action, e.g. attempting to destroy ballot boxes.
When the president of France Raymond Poincaré travelled by train to Madrid, he was greeted in Catalonia with "¡Viva España y Alemania!" paintings, signed by Requeté. During the hostilities, when the question of Spanish stand versus the conflict remained a heated political issue, requeté militants provided protection to rallies advancing either neutralist or openly pro-German and pro-Austrian narrative. During a popular feast in Barcelona they assaulted participants who carried cartoons mocking the Kaiser and in 1917 some politicians already suggested that the organization was actually financed by Germany.
Organized groups of adolescent boys were permitted to operate – e.g. to exercise marches – only when unarmed and in plain clothes. Partial and sporadic data provides evidence that at least some elements of organized structure, including military ranks and hierarchical command layers, have been introduced; there are also unconfirmed news about expulsions from the organization. There are cases of militant youth exalting regional leadership reported, but there are also cases of Carlist deputies voicing unease and even suggesting dissolution of specific requeté cells. In 1920 Don Jaime nominated :es:Juan Pérez Nájera|Juan Pérez Nájera, a 75-year-old military, the jefé of all requeté in Spain.

Dormant phase (1920-1930)

Since the mid-1910s the activity of Requeté was in steady decline, but at the turn of the decades the organisation entered the period of lethargy and hibernation, which was dubbed by scholars as "disengagement and paralysis" or "irremisible decadencia". Numerous proletarian members of Carlist-affiliated Sindicatos Libres involved in violent clashes with competitive labor unions were former requetés. However, Sindicatos Libres failed to gain dynamics and stagnated. In 1922 Don Jaime asked the Carlist political leader Marqués de Villores to revitalize Requeté and Juventudes into "action groups". At times members were noted for clashes with the police, they were increasingly frequently on the defeated end during skirmishes with left-wing hit-squads. Having declared 3 members dead, in June the Barcelona requeté promised to retalliate and take bold action.
In the late 1920s the organization was noted in the press when sending protest letters or taking part in religious services. In some provinces requeté activity ceased completely. In unclear circumstances a Barcelona branch declared itself dissolved and renamed to "Los Mosqueteros de Jaime III". In the early 1920s requete and Somatén used to confront each other in violent fist-fights. Since the mid-1920s numerous requeté members entered Somatén, especially that such a move was officially recommended by de Villores. In 1927-1928 the regime suspected requeté of planning a coup d'etat and some detentions followed, e.g. this of the Barcelona requeté president Felix Oliveras y Cots.

Reformatting (1930-1931)

The information available suggests the in the early 1930s the organization languished as few isolated and rather inactive cells, engaged mostly in resumption of party propaganda and religious activities; there were attempts to return to the old format with renewed excursionist or sporting bids. Most news of requeté activity, scarce as they were, came traditionally either from Catalonia or Levante.
In May 1930 Don Jaime called the Carlist leaders to Paris and set up Comité de Acción. Historians speculate that as the situation in Spain was getting increasingly fragile, the claimant acted with a view to future violent developments; some maintain that "revitalization of shock groups was key concern" for him at the time. A study on Catalan Carlism of the early 1930s does not contain a single paragraph on any attempt to revitalize the requeté structures in the region in 1930-1931.
In late summer of 1931 Comité decided to focus on expansion and re-formatting of Requeté. Some scholars claim it was to act "para impulsor un eventual movimiento insurreccional" and to become volunteer army able to rise and control some territory in "the old 19-th century style"; however, there is also opinion that the organization was to maintain "eminently defensive character". Any remnants of juvenile features were abandoned and the organization was to group fit, young adult males. Its centre of gravity was to be moved from Catalonia and Levante to the vasco-navarrese area. The decisions adopted in late 1931 set an entirely new course and in short time they were to transform Requeté into a totally new formation.

New Requeté (1931-1936)

In 1931 a colonel Eugenio Sanz de Lerín was appointed the Requeté chief instructor. In few months he managed to develop a Navarrese network of 2,000 men, grouped in newly established 10-men sub-units named decurias; its immediate objective was protection of religious buildings. With assistance of local parish priests, by year-end the force at least trippled. However, in early 1932 Requeté suffered a number of setbacks. Comité de Acción was disbanded, key instructors were detained by the security, and some cells were outlawed by administration. Most decurias got "practically dismantled"; apart from disorganized Navarrese network, elsewhere Requeté were restricted to harmless groups in big cities. During a meeting of military conspirators prior to the August 1932 Sanjurjada Sanz de Lerín offered 6,000 requetés, but scholars dismiss this claim as pure fantasy. Beyond Navarre there was barely any growth and even in Catalonia requeté was much of a disappointment.
José Enrique Varela in late 1932 he was appointed Jefé Nacional of Requeté. He replaced the decuria scheme with a military-like structure up to the battalion level and issued a number of rulebooks, but above all in 1933-1934 he toured the country making appointments, issuing orders, supervising buildup and delivering training himself. Though in regions like Catalonia standardization efforts encountered some resistance, the organization gained momentum also beyond Navarre. In early 1934 the party executive formed Frente Nacional de Boinas Rojas, the attempt to create a hierarchical national Requeté structure, detached from local Carlist juntas. Its political leader was appointed José-Luis Zamanillo. Some 150 militants attended military training in Fascist Italy. In late 1934 requetés for the first time ever offered their service to military commanders confronted with the October revolution. In early 1935 Requeté has already gained a convincingly military character which it had previously lacked; its strength was 20,000 men.
In mid-1935 Varela handed over as Inspector General to :es:Ricardo Rada|Ricardo Rada. At the time the chief concern was weapons, with small arms being smuggled from France or procured internally; in early 1935 the organization owned 450 machine-guns. There were already plans for military action prepared, though intended as counter-revolutionary defense rather than as insurrectional coup. By late 1935 requeté sections were no longer add-ons to Carlist círculos; they became the most dynamic part of the Carlist machinery and it might have seemed that all the rest was just an add-on to Requeté. December 1935 produced first case of Requeté on alert awaiting the order to rise; another plan, this time to stage a Carlist-only rising, was developed and then abandoned in April-May 1936. In late spring of 1936 Requeté grouped 10,000 fully armed and trained men plus 20,000 forming an auxiliary pool. In contrast to urban-oriented action groups "primarily accustomed to street fighting and pistolerismo", maintained by other parties, Requeté was a "genuine citizen army" capable of performing small-scale tactical military operations.

Civil War (1936-1939): in combat

In 3 out of 4 regions of highest Carlist militancy, Catalonia, Levante and Vascongadas, the military coup failed and requeté rebels fell prisoners, went into hiding or fled to the Nationalist zone. However, in Navarre the organization was powerful enough to seize control over the region almost single-handedly; moreover, it contributed to rapid capture of Western Aragón, and in the late summer of 1936 it proved crucial for Nationalist takeover of Gipuzkoa. Smaller Requeté detachments played some role during seizure of Western Andalusia. Units from Navarre, Old Castile, Leon and Galicia formed part of troops attempting to cross Sierra de Guadarrama and reach Madrid, but failed. During first weeks of the war the requeté volunteers formed some 15-20% of all Nationalist troops on the peninsula and proved vital for some of their initial strategic achievements, namely cutting off the Northern enclave from France and forming a bulwark which separated the Republican-held Vascongadas and Aragon.
Though the organization maintained 20-25,000 people in its frontline units, due to overall growth of the Nationalist army the percentage of requetés fell to 9% in April 1937, to 5% in January 1938, and to 3% by the end of the war. They were grouped in Carlist-only infantry battalions named tercios. There are some 40 of them known, though many were under strength and short-lived, later to be merged into other units; only about 15 operated throughout most of the war. They were typically commanded by professional army officers, possibly though not necessarily of Traditionalist leaning. The Navarrese tercios were grouped into so-called :es:Brigadas de Navarra|Navarrese Brigades, units composed also of army detachments and other militias; during much of the war they operated jointly as an army corps. Other tercios were assigned to various larger heterogeneous units.
Political unification did not affect Requeté tercios much; though formally incorporated into the army, they continued to operate as Carlist battalions. Recruitment was volunteer, ensured by party political structures in the rear. Exact social composition of the units is not clear; existing data suggests they were composed mostly of working-class militants, their share ranging between 55% and 85%. It is estimated that some 60,000 to 70,000 men served in Requeté one time or another, more than a half of them from Navarre. Cases of brothers, cousins or father-and-son pairs were by no means exceptional, and there were even few cases of 3 generations serving. Because along the Moroccan Regulares and the Foreign Legion the Requetés were usually deployed as shock troops, their casualties were above the average Nationalist losses. The number of KIAs is estimated between 4,000 and 6,000; the total number of casualties is given between 13,000 and 34,000.

Civil War (1936-1939): repression, crimes and atrocities

Along combat engagements, during the Civil War requeté were also taking part in repression. At times various tercios or other frontline units were assigned related tasks in their zones of deployment, e.g. in Cantabria, Aragón, Extremadura or Andalucia. They were usually peformed on temporary and makeshift basis; in some sources these measures are referred as “policing”, in other they are noted as part of “political cleansing”. However, Traditionalist militia are best known for repressive measures executed in areas where Carlism remained a major or significant political force, notably in Navarre and Vasconagadas. In these regions requetés formed major and fixed part of the Nationalist system of institutionalized terror, aimed against political enemies; some scholars list them as one of 4 agents of violence. Their exact role remains disputed. According to one theory, requeté units executed repressive actions which had been planned and approved beforehand by the military; the competitive one claims that at least until late 1936, requeté “death squads” acted independently and with full autonomy.
The only province where requeté operated an entire system of terror was Navarre. It was supervised and at times directed by the local Carlist political executive, Junta Central Carlista. The system consisted of requeté running a giant intelligence network; a specialized branch busy with arrests, terror raids and on-the-spot executions; two Carlist-only prisons - Colegio de los Escolapios and Colegio de los Salesianos in Pamplona, which served as places of detention, interrogation, torture, and execution; filtering bodies which marked inmates for execution, further incarceration or liberation; and death squads which extracted prisoners and shot them later on. Some of these structures were replicated in Vascongadas, especially in Gipuzkoa and Álava; though in these provinces there were only makeshift Carlist-operated prisons, requeté organisation included similar units dedicated to policing and repression tasks, euphemistically named “auxiliary services”.
The key branch entrusted with repressive measures was Requeté Auxiliar. The service grouped individuals too young or too old to qualify for regular combat units, though also other volunteers and these released from frontline troops due to wounds suffered. They were assigned numerous rearguard tasks, like postal censorship, manning convoys, gendarmerie duties, grave-digging, liaison, medical services etc, though they were primarily busy with repression; some of their informal units, like Tercio Móvil or Partida Volante, gained notoriety as excelling in terror missions. Fully supervised by Junta Central, requeté members were also delegated to regular police structures in Comisaría de Investigación y Vigilancia, the key police branch busy with pursuit of presumed political enemies, or in Delegación de Orden Público; some of them later grew to major positions. Over time requeté death squads developed their own modus operandi; first detailed information on presumed enemies was collected by local informers, but a unit which performed repressive action in a given area originated from another location to ensure personal relations do not prevent ruthless and no-mercy attitude. The area subjected to particularly heavy requeté terror was part of Navarre, Àlava and Logroño known as Ribera; officially known as “pacificación”, in more blunt statements it was referred as “persecución y captura” of political opponents.
The largest single atrocity involving requeté occurred on October 21, 1936 in the Navarrese village of Monreal. Once an attempt to raid a Tafalla prison and lynch the inmates failed due to rigid stand of local Guardia Civil, the assailants obtained an official authorisation. Three days later they extracted 65 prisoners and shot them; the entire operation, including the execution itself, was performed by requetés of Tercio Móvil. The second in terms of scale comes a so-called Valcardera Massacre of August 23, 1936, which produced 52 dead; it is usually noted that requetés who shot the inmates hurried back to Pamplona to take part in a religious ceremony ongoing. The crime which gained particular attention, though, was execution of 8 Basque Catholic priests in the Gipuzkoan town of Hernani and further 4 in Oiartzun in the fall of 1936. In both cases requetés formed part of firing squads and some authors claim that the killings were “carried out at the behest of the Carlists”; the massacre produced an intervention of the papal nuncio and damaged relations betwen the Nationalists and Vatican. Requeté violence was denouced also by the bishop of Pamplona, Marcelino Olaechea. Many minor cases of atrocities and crimes committed by reuqeté members are being currently investigated; some of them involved “barbaric excesses” which did not spare women; some included rape.
, 1936
In terms of personal resposibilty for requeté crimes and atrocities much of it lies with :es:Esteban Ezcurra|Esteban Ezcurra Arraiza, jefe de Requetés de Navarra. In this role he was responsible for all repressive actions performed by the militia in the province; apart from administrative duties and co-operation with military and official repressive structures, he was also personally involved in issuing detention orders and reviewing the list of inmates. However, the role of “executive arms” was assumed by Benito Santesteban Martínez and Vicente Munárriz Sanz de Arellano, both requeté lieutenants; they were personally ordering detentions, interrogating prisoners, commanding extractions and supervising executions. They were matched if not surpassed by the Requeté Auxiliar teniente from Àlava, Bruno Ruiz de Apodaca Juarrero, who apart from commanding numerous terror raids, boasted also of having personally killed 108 people. Many other requeté members enjoyed murder and looting; some of them have volunteered specifically “to execute the enemies detained”. Some accounts deliver picture of extreme torture and tormenting of inmates before execution. There are authors who claim that even the Carlist political executive were shocked at “the extent of the killings” and tried to limit the terror inflicted by own forces, though mostly in vain.
The scale of carnage inflicted by requetés remains uncertain” and no general quantification of requeté terror is available, though there is abundant evidence of requeté members taking part in repressive actions. In Navarre only there were some 3,000 people executed in course of the Nationalist terror, yet no source attempts to calculate what is the ratio the Carlists were responsible for. In absence of any documention, it is not possible to say how many people were held in the Escolapios and how many of them were later murdered by requeté members. Though some scholars split the responsibility for crimes and atrocities between the Carlists, the Falangists, the military and anonimous local mob, other authors claim that requetés formed the “most bloody section of the Nationalist faction” and excelled in political cleansing, be it in Navarre or in Andalusia.

Early Francoism (1940s)

Theoretically Comunión Tradicionalista amalgamated within the state party, but the movement operated unofficially or on a semiclandestine basis. Zamanillo – who in protest against the unification resigned his position in 1937 – at some point in the early 1940s re-assumed the duties of Delegado Nacional de Requetés. At least in areas of high Carlist militancy Juntas Regionales included a Requeté delegate and in regions like Navarre or Catalonia many loose requeté cells operated locally. National party leadership tried to reorganize the network; in the ambience of disintegration and bewilderment, they were anxious to ensure Requeté loyalty to the command chain or even to turn it into the party's backbone. Some authors refer to "reconstuido Requeté". New members were being recruited, ranks were maintained and in some cases, sub-sections were developed.
Various groups contemplated using the structures either as recruitment pool for units supposed to fight along the Nazis or as an espionage network for the British. However, a Requeté bulletin was issued officially, posing as print of former soldiers. Uniformed detachments attended various gatherings, usually either religious or related to commemorations of wartime deeds. Propaganda activities often led to skirmishes with FET or security forces. Already prior to 1939 most conflicts within the state party were related to requetés refusing to abandon their identity and to embrace the official national-syndicalism. During the 1940s the Falangists and groups referred as "requetés" engaged in intimidation, fist-fights, sabotaging rallies or assaults on premises; some Carlist cells proudly reported these engagements as their key activities. The largest riots occurred in 1945 in Pamplona, when official requeté structures actively prepared the disturbances. With diminishing frequency the brawls continued until the early 1950s.
1942
Police kept monitoring requeté cells but there was no systematic effort to suppress them. Displaying a badge in public or having a Requeté ID card could have been a motive for detention, but presence of small uniformed groups was usually tolerated during ex-combatant or religious events. However, at times even commemorative requeté rallies were banned or officials who had permitted them were admonished; an attempt to open Museo del Requeté in Seville ended up in administrative forbiddance. Requeté members detained during street brawls were usually released after some 2 weeks in arrest, though following the Pamplona riots few leaders were kept behind bars much longer. At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s the administration condoned public appearances of a requeté-styled group which accompanied an offshoot carloctavista claimant cultivated by the regime. Over time the official policy towards Carlist organizations became more lenient and administration permitted even massive rallies.

Mid-Francoism (1950s)

In the early 1950s wartime ex-combatants were approaching or in their 40s, consumed by daily routine and cultivating their Carlism as chats about wartime deeds over a glass of wine. Zamanillo as Delegado Nacional de Requeté kept representing the organization in Secretaría Nacional and regional jefés operated locally, but it is not clear how much the network was still rooted in the ground.
Visible revitalisation of Carlism, related to the 1957 appearance of Don Carlos Hugo and his team, affected Requeté little; the focus was rather on AET. Uniformed militants were needed as part Traditionalist rallies like the :es:Actos de Montejurra|Montejurra ascent and in large cities "requetés" were at times detained, e.g. for carrying placards aimed against Don Juan Carlos. In 1957 Zamanillo nominated the 33-year-old Arturo Márquez de Prado y Pareja as "chief instructor" with apparent aim to resume military training. Also some sub-sections of the organization have been established; in 1958 a "Comisión Técnica Nacional del Requeté" was noted for its lengthy political analysis. Intended for the party leader José María Valiente, it recommended a firm and intransigent stand versus the Juanistas and the regime.
In 1959 the Navarrese jefé Francisco Javier Astraín complained about eternal dissent within the regional organisation, which "siempre había en la provincia para encontrar un jefe de requeté"; he suggested appointment of a new, strong-hand, military leader. On the other hand, some reports advocated exactly the opposite, namely more independence for the Requeté structures. In 1960 latest the party executive Junta Nacional formed 7 specialized departments, and Comisión de Requeté was one of them. The same year Zamanillo vacated the seat of Requete delegate, replaced by Márquez de Prado.

Late Francoism (1960s)

There were systematic training courses organized, Márquez de Prado pondered upon assistance to Cuban counter-revolutionaries and to OAS in Algeria, and a police report from 1962 claimed that the structures were "perfectly organized". Carlists in the entourage of Don Carlos Hugo were increasingly anxious about the Requeté "influencia militarista" in the Comunión. Márquez de Prado remained suspicious about the prince, his entourage and their new ideas, while Requeté was gradually turning into the bulwark of Traditionalist orthodoxy. Ramón Massó and other Huguista leaders concluded that Márquez de Prado, obsessed with confronting counter-revolution, had to be sidelined. As to the organisation itself they were undecided whether there was a chance to control it or whether it should be marginalized.
In 1963 one of the Huguistas, Pedro José Zabala, presented Valiente with his draft of the Requeté overhaul. The group envisioned that the organisation "debía tener una misión más social y política" and that Márquez de Prado be ousted; brother of another Huguista partisan, Juan Zavala Castella, was proposed as new delegado nacional. The same year Márquez de Prado asked Valiente for the opposite, namely consolidation of his own powers; some considered it a pre-emptive strike inspired by Zamanillo, already expulsed from the Comunión. At the time "paulatino desmantelamiento" of Requeté, apparently intended by the Huguistas, was ongoing, even though its uniformed units played ceremonial roles during key Carlist rallies. Still officially represented in Junta Nacional and Secretaría Nacional, in 1963 the Requeté budget was merely 4% of the entire Comunión spending. The pressure on Valiente mounted and eventually in early 1965 Márquez de Prado was dismissed; as Delegado Nacional de Requeté he was replaced by a 56-year-old Navarrese, Miguel de San Cristobál Ursua.
at :es:Actos de Montejurra|Montejurra, 1960s
San Cristobál prepared decentralization and demilitarization of the organisation. On the other, some decisions suggested buildup of "grupos de acción", possibly engaged in terrorist activity; during the party congress of 1966 this was the future Requeté direction supported by most participants. However, the same year another option was chosen. Like in case of most other sections, the nationwide Requeté executive was disbanded and its local structures were subordinated to corresponding juntas, which marked reversal to the pre-1934 pattern. All the above, plus San Cristobál's address at Montejurra, triggered protests; some Juntas Provinciales accused the Huguista-dominated secretariat of manipulating Carlist structures and many militants resigned or left. An internal report of 1967 claimed that disorganization of Requeté "es total"; some historians maintain that in few years following decentralization, Requeté "practicamente desaparece". However, some Traditionalists have concluded that the Huguistas had already won the battle for Requeté, which in turn enabled their control of the entire party.

Decomposition (1970s)

In the very early 1970s San Cristobál was noted in the party press as merely the Navarrese jefé regional and even regional executive bodies did not include a Requeté representative. The Traditionalist faction abandoned any attempt to regain control over the organization and focused on struggle to retain influence in the ex-combatant Requeté hermandad, since 1965 headed by another Huguista, Ignacio Romero Osborne. With assistance of state security services the bid proved successful, but the entire ex-combatant movement was always prone to fragmentation. In 1971 Romero set up a competitive organisation based in France, while various other Hermandades pursued own political paths, usually centred around late Francoist structures and Don Juan Carlos; in 1972-1973 some of them acted as intended but failed centers of revitalized, anti-Huguista Carlist movement.
During a series of rallies staged in 1971-1972 in the French Arbonné Comunión Tradicionalista was transformed into a totally new entity, Partido Carlista. Its structures did not envision any Requeté section. Historians claim that during buildup of Partido Carlista of the early 1970s, the Requeté – at that time already almost defunct - was effectively dissolved along all other sections of the movement, like AET, MOT or the Margaritas.
"La persona fundamental" in this process was Márquez de Prado, assisted by Zamanillo; at one point it seemed that even San Cristobál might get involved. Exact results of these efforts are not clear. In 1973 a body named Comisión Permanente of Junta Nacional de Jefes de Requetés, led by Márquez de Prado, issued a manifesto which declared Don Carlos Hugo traitor to the sacred cause and pledged to re-build a genuine Carlist organization; Eventually, in 1975 Márquez de Prado and his followers pledged loyalty to Don Sixto. His group, named Jefatura Nacional de Requetés, kept issuing manifestos also in 1976 and it might have been involved in the Montejurra shooting of the same year.

Recent times (1980s and afterwards)

The name of "requeté" appeared most often in relation to various ex-combatant organisations, either engaged in post-Francoist rallies – e.g. on anniversary of dictator's death in 1981 - or in commemorative feasts related to milestones of Carlist history, e.g. in 1984 in Seville.
Their activity was decreasingly public and increasingly formatted as private, small-circle meetings. Some went on as legal owners of sanctuaries built during Francoism and issued publications on history of their units, though fairly frequent death notices, published in the press and referring to just deceased "requeté hasta su muerte" or "requeté voluntario de la Cruzada", demonstrated that the ranks of combatants were getting increasingly thin. The death notices are still being published today, though now usually referring to "the last living combatant" from specific region or battalion.

Legacy

Though recent past remains a hotly debated and highly controversial topic in Spain, the requeté legacy does not form its major thread. If mentioned, in public discourse Carlist volunteers are usually bundled together with other groups as components of Francoism, co-responsible for introduction of an anti-democratic, brutal dictatorial system. The exception is Vascongadas and especially Navarre, two regions where the requeté civil war past attracts more than minor attention. Criticism of repressive role played by the militia is repeated here with more vehemence than elsewhere; as some sections of the society defend the requeté tradition, at times heated public controversies ensue.

Spontaneous cleansing

Since the fall of Francoism various commemorative stones, plaques, crosses and other objects which glorify wartime requeté deeds have been spontaneously vandalized, destroyed or removed across all Spain, though especially in Vascongadas, Navarre and Catalonia. Some of these actions required major effort, e.g. a monument-altar on the :fr:Isuskitza|Isuskitza mountain has been blown up with large quantities of explosives. Some objects – e.g. a commemorative stone in Leitza - have been repeatedly damaged following attempts at their restoration. Painting the remaining objects in spray, usually involving insults and abuse, is the most typical and widespread mode of defamation. As many objects were and are located in remote places, e.g. at top of hills subject to heavy fighting during the war, perpetrators usually remain unidentified; in case of some attempts the involvement of ETA or related groups has been suspected. Recently semi-anonymous groups use internet to claim responsibility and boast of cleansing public space from fascist remnants, e.g. once a requeté monument next to the Montserrat abbey has been drenched with red paint or a cross in Ondarroa has been demolished.

Historical Memory Law

Adoption of the 2007 Historical Memory Law commenced an official nationwide campaign which included removal of requeté legacy from public space. As the regulation declared exaltation of the civil war and the dictatorship illegal, local authorities have been obliged to purge all related objects. The immediate effect was re-naming of streets linked to requeté which had not been re-named so far; the campaign affected names honoring specific tercios, single individuals or songs; in some cases, even names referring to Navarre as the region itself are considered Francoist heritage. The process is ongoing; some NGOs keep tracking names which they claim merit removal, and if local authorities are deemed inactive the central Madrid institutions get involved. In few cases specific names – e.g. “Calle Montejurra” – have been either allowed to stay or slightly changed. Apart from names, remaining stones or objects related to requeté have been targeted, e.g. the city of Santander removed the monument to Navarrese Brigades and Bilbao removed the commemorative cross in Egirleta. At times only commemorative plaques are either removed or replaced with new ones, while the object itself is allowed to stay; this was the case e.g. of a large cross dedicated to the fallen requeté at Monte Morkaiku.
, former :es:Monumento a los Caídos |Nationalist fallen mausoleum as exposition hall
Currently the single requeté-related object which generates most controversy is a huge building in central Pamplona, erected in the early Francoist period as :es:Monumento a los Caídos |Monumento a Los Caídos. It was constructed to honor the Navarrese fallen during the Civil War while fighting in the Nationalist ranks; out of 4,500 individuals identified, some 1,700 were Carlist militiamen. Since the 1980s the Francoist symbols have been gradually de-emphasized to be almost completely eliminated in the early 21st century; for some time the building served as an exposition hall. Recently progressist groupings demand either demolition or total re-design of the construction, which reportedly serves “exaltación fascista”. :es:Navarrismo|Navarrist groupings keep opposing the plans. The debate is ongoing, currently stuck in various municipal administrative and judicial bodies. Much less publicized is the controversy related to a small mausoleum of Catalan requeté in Montserrat. Following a lengthy public debate, in 2018 the motion to close the premises was approved by the Catalan parliament and Generalitat is expected to take appropriate action. It should target also the only currently existing monument to requeté in Spain, located in front of the building.
Some groups claim that Historical Memory Law is legal basis for prohibition of public acts planned by organizations which embrace the requeté tradition. Every year such controversies emerge aroung mid-July, in relation to anniversary of the 1936 military coup, e.g. in 2020 in Granada an organization named La Asociación Granadina Verdad, Justicia y Reparación demanded that authorities ban a "fascist act" planned at the local cemetery in honor of "héroes de la España nacional". If limited in scale and restrained to private format, such commemorative events are usually permitted; the one in Granada, organised by a local Carlist grouplet, has eventually gathered 5 participants; In some cases even annual gatherings organized on prominent premises, staged to honor Carlist insurgents of 1936, are tolerated if limited to private. A filmmaker who inflitrated such gathering was trialed and sentenced, but the judiciary raised no objections against the gathering itself; this led some to ask whether "Francoist repression" is actually over in Spain.

Navarre

In Navarre the debate over the requeté past goes far beyond purging public space from Francoist remnants and re-appears in many other threads. In 2016 the local Navarrese parliament hosted on its premises an exposition of graphics named “Navarra-1936-Nafarroa”; in expressionist convention the drawings portrayed requetés and falangists as bloody assassins who mounted a murderous campaign of terror. Right-wing politicians declared that the exposition presented a false version of the past and defamed their ancestors. Eventually neither the pictures have been removed nor the wording changed, but the parliament president made some conciliatory comments. A longtime discussion over Museum of Carlism, an institution set up and financed by the regional self-government, climaxed in 2017. Democratic and Basque nationalist groupings claimed that authorities tolerated glorification of requeté and manipulated the past to cover up Carlist atrocities. They demanded re-organisation of expositions organized by the Museum, as the existing ones reportedly passed in silence over the requeté role in Francoist repression and the picture of Carlism as presented by the institution was generally misleading. The latest in a series of controversies is related to a Carlist religious service and a commemorative stone re-erected in Leitza in 2018; the event was attended by local parliamentarians from UPN and Navarra Suma. Navarrese left-wing politicians denounced the attempt to cherish the requeté tradition as fascism; the issue has been brought before the government, which refused to take action and declared that no law had been violated.
Among Spanish official political groupings the one most vehemently pitted against the requeté tradition is Bildu, a Basque nationalist party very militant in Navarre. Non-political organizations active denouncing the Carlist militia as murderous criminals are Ateneo Basilio Lacort in Navarre and Asociación Para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica in Spain in general. Numerous historiographic studies on the Spanish Civil War often mention requeté as involved in repression and some works specifically target Carlism as co-responsible for crimes and atrocities. Defence of requeté is mounted by minuscule groups which claim the Carlist heritage, either from the Traditionalist or from the Socialist faction. Some sympathy is demonstrated by parties and groups related to Navarrismo, a centre-right local political current. At times nationally recognized personalities speak out in defense of requeté; this was the case e.g. of a Navarrese politician Jaime Ignacio del Burgo Tajadura or a business tycoon Luis Hernando de Larramendi y Martínez, both sons to former requetés; the latter presides over a foundation set up to protect the Carlist heritage. Historiographic works emerging in these circles challenge the notion of “memoria histórica” – the term which typically assumes a highly anti-Francoist tone - as false and prejudiced against requeté.

Literature

In literary works set up during the Civil War, massively popular in Spain of the last few decades, Carlist threads are usually either minor or entirely missing. If mentioned, requeté are marginally referred to evoke the atmosphere of Francoist terror or repression, like in El jinete polaco by Antonio Muñoz Molina; at times they represent de-humanized barbaric instincts, like in El lector de Jules Verne by Almudena Grandes. In some works, especially these emergent in the Basque culture, requetés are specifically targeted as agents of bloody repression, like in Antzararen bidea by :es:Jokin Muñoz|Jokin Muñoz. To be presented in a positive light a requeté protagonist must first develop skepticism on his wartime deeds, like in Los hombres lloran solos by José María Gironella or in El requeté que gritó Gora Euskadi by :eu:Alberto Irigoyen|Alberto Irigoyen. Opposite perspective is entirely exceptional, though at times it does appear; this is the case of En el Requeté de Olite by Mikel Azurmendi, the first novel identified which clearly and with no reservations sympathizes with a requeté; celebrated in Carlism-flavored groupings it drew heavy fire from many other sides.

Appendix. Major Civil War battles

Major Civil War Requeté battles:
locationpart ofdatebattalions engagedassignementstrengthtotal losseskilledresult
approches to IrúnGipuzkoa Campaign1936/8-9S.Fermín, Lácar, S.Miguel, Montejurra, Navarraoffensive2,500500100success
approaches to BilbaoBiscay Campaign1937/4-6N.S.d.Camino, S.Ignacio, Lácar, Montejurra, S.Miguel, Navarra, Oriamendi, Zumalacárreguioffensive4,000unclearunclearsuccess
central AragonBattle of Aragon1937/8Almogávares, M.d.Molina, Montserrat, M.d.l.Nievesdefensive1,200800550failure
La Muela de TeruelBattle of Teruel1938/1-2N.S.d.Begoña, N.S.d.Camino, Lácar, Montejurra, Navarra, Oriamendi, V.Blancadefensive4,5001,000200success
Sierra de Pàndols/CaballsBattle of Ebro1938/9-11Alcazar, Burgos-Sangüesa, Cristo Rey, Lácar, Montejurra, N.S.d.Pilaroffensive4,0001,300200success
CataloniaCatalonia Offensive1939/1-3Castellano-Mola, Lácar, Montejurra, S.Miguel, Oriamendi, Ortiz d.Zárate, N.S.d.Pilar, V.Blancaoffensive5,500400100success

Other notable Civil War Requeté engagements:
yearlocation
1936:es:Valle de Cuelgamuros|Cuelgamuros ; Braojos ; :fr:Isuskitza|Isusquiza ; Villareal de Alava
1937Lopera ; Matillas ; Marquína ; :es:Saibi|Monte Saibigain ; Brunete ; Fuentes del Tajo
1938Caspe ; Mano de Hierro ; Puente de Montañana ; Peñas de Aholo ; Vilalba de los Arcos
1939Valsequillo

See Also