From baker to General Secretary: the leader who steered Spanish communism through the Popular Front and Civil War
“We are fighting for the Democratic Republic, for a democratic and Parliamentary Republic of a new type, with deep social content.” — Report to the PCE Central Committee, Valencia, 5 March 1937
As General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), José Díaz led the party through the Popular Front strategy, transforming it from a small sect into a mass party central to the Republican war effort. A Sevillian baker who cut his teeth in the anarcho-syndicalist CNT, he joined the PCE in 1927 and rose to General Secretary in 1932. At the 7th Comintern Congress (1935), he stood with Georgi Dimitrov in championing the anti-fascist united front, and during the Civil War he committed the party wholly to military victory under the banner of a “democratic republic of a new type.” Stricken by stomach cancer, he died in Tbilisi in 1942; his decade of leadership laid the foundations of the Spanish communist tradition for generations.
Career timeline
- 1913Joins La Aurora, the Seville bakers' union
- 1917Leads bakers' strike in Seville
- 1920Participates in the CNT general strike
- 1925Arrested in Madrid under Primo de Rivera dictatorship; imprisoned
- 1927Joins PCE; leads the Andalusian party organization
- 1932.34th PCE Congress — elected to Central Committee
- 1932.9Joins Politburo; soon appointed General Secretary
- 19357th Comintern Congress — backs Dimitrov's anti-fascist united front line
- 1936.2Elected to Cortes for Madrid
- 1936–1939Leads PCE through Civil War — prioritizes military victory and Republican unity
- 1938.12Transferred to USSR for stomach cancer treatment; operated in Leningrad
- 1939–1942Comintern Secretariat cadre — oversees Spain, South America, British India
“¡No pasarán!”: the voice of anti-fascism that refused to let Franco's armies pass
“If we let the fascists continue the crimes they are committing in Spain, aggressive fascism will fall upon other peoples of Europe too. The Spanish people prefer to die on their feet than live on their knees.” — Paris solidarity rally, 3 September 1936
The iconic leader of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), whose cry of "¡No pasarán!" during the Civil War became the universal rallying cry of anti-fascism. She resisted the Franco dictatorship from exile and publicly opposed the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Career timeline
- 1917Joins the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)
- 1918First article in El Minero Vizcaíno; adopts pen name 'Pasionaria'
- 1922Co-founds the unified Communist Party of Spain (PCE)
- 1930Elected to the PCE Central Committee
- 1933Founding president of the Union of Anti-Fascist Women
- 19357th Comintern Congress — elected candidate member of the ECCI
- 1936.2Elected to the Cortes for Asturias
- 1936.7Radio address “¡No pasarán!” — calls for the defence of Madrid against the fascist armies
- 1937Elected Vice-President of the Cortes
- 1939–1942Soviet exile — continues Comintern work
- 1941–1963Directs short-wave Radio España Independiente (Radio Pirenaica)
- 1942–1960General Secretary of the PCE
- 1945Co-founds the Women's International Democratic Federation; Vice-President
- 1960–1989Chair of the PCE
- 1968Publicly opposes the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia
- 1977Returns to Spain after Franco's death; re-elected to the Cortes after 41 years
The Eurocommunist architect who lit a cigarette at gunpoint
23 February 1981: 200 Civil Guards under Lt. Col. Tejero storm the Spanish parliament, firing submachine guns. As every deputy dives for cover, 66-year-old Santiago Carrillo remains seated, takes out a cigarette, and calmly lights it.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (1960–1982), Carrillo was a key architect of Eurocommunism alongside Berlinguer and Marchais. Breaking with Moscow after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, he argued in Eurocommunism and the State (1977) for a parliamentary path to socialism and guided Spain's peaceful democratic transition after Franco's death.
Career timeline
- 1930Begins at the Socialist Youth newspaper Renovación
- 1934Elected General Secretary of the Socialist Youth of Spain
- 1934–1936Imprisoned for participation in the 1934 revolutionary uprising
- 1936.11Joins the PCE; Councillor for Public Order, Madrid Defence Council
- 1937Candidate member of the PCE Political Bureau
- 1939–197638-year exile during the Franco dictatorship
- 1946–1947Minister without portfolio, Republican government-in-exile
- 1960Succeeds Dolores Ibárruri as PCE General Secretary
- 1968Opposes Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; breaks with Moscow
- 1976Returns secretly disguised in a wig; arrested and released
- 1977.3Launches Eurocommunism with Berlinguer and Marchais in Madrid
- 1977–1986Member of Congress of Deputies for Madrid
- 1981.2.2323-F coup — remains seated, lights cigarette as gunmen fire
- 1982Resigns as PCE General Secretary after electoral defeat
- 1985Expelled from PCE; forms splinter left party
- 1991Disbands splinter party; declines merger into ruling PSOE
