Miguel Primo de Rivera

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Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja
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Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja

Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, Marqués de Estella (Jerez, January 8, 1870 - Paris, March 16, 1930) was a Spanish military official who ruled Spain as a dictator from 1923 to 1930, ending the turno system of alternating parties.

Primo de Rivera was the son of Don Miguel Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte and of his wife Doña Inés Orbaneja y Pérez de Grandallana. Born into a family of soldiers, he entered the Spanish army and fought in Spain's colonial wars in Morocco, Cuba, and the Philippines. Primo de Rivera held several important military posts after World War I, which included the captain-generalship of Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona. He became the Marques de Estella with the death of his uncle in 1921. He rose to power in a coup in September 1923 with the support of the army, along with the support of the latifundists, trade unions and Catalan entrepreneurs, among others. He was approved and recognized by King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who named him Prime Minister.

Primo de Rivera suspended the constitution, established martial law, imposed strict censorship, and banned all political parties, though some survived clandestinely. Then he founded Unión Patriótica Española, creating a one party system. During his rule, the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno was confined to island of Fuerteventura. Unamuno escaped and continued his opposition efforts.

Primo de Rivera attempted to reduce unemployment by spending money on public works, but such government expenditure brought about a sharp rise in inflation. He eventually lost the support of the population and stepped down in January 1930. A republic was established a little more than a year later. A few months after the end of his rule, he died in Paris apparently from diabetes, although the exact cause of death has not been determined.

Primo de Rivera married Doña Casilda Sáenz de Heredia y Suárez de Argudín. They had four children:

  • Miguel Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 4th Marqués de Estella, was Ambassador to the United Kingdom under Franco's regime.
  • Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia was killed in the Madrid Jail at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War by the Republicans.
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