July 18th, 1936, was a fateful day, when the Spanish Guerra Civil (civil war) began 75 years ago today. Actually, the putsch had started the day before, on the 17th at 17h00, when the Spanish town of Melilla in North Africa was taken over by Military rebels, including Francisco Franco Bahamonde who later became the strong man and eventually, the leader of the uprising. On Saturday, 18 July, 1936, the National Front and the Spanish Military began their ultimately successful campaign of overthrowing the Segunda República Española (Second Spanish Republic), which had been proclaimed after the municipal elections were held in April, 1931, and King Alfonso XIII fled the country without abdicating.

Palma de Mallorca was occupied by the rebellious military the following day, July 19th, as were large parts of the Spanish mainland. The pueblos in Mallorca responded with pronounced inaction. Only the military air base in Port de Pollença resisted the uprising of the putschists and declared their loyalty to the Spanish government. However, they too surrendered one day later on July 20th, 1936.

The date of the Alzamiento Nacional del 18 de julio (national uprising of July 18th) was declared a national holiday by the Franco dictatorship and remained as such until 1977.

The photo shows Republican navy ships attacking the already occupied city of Palma de Mallorca on July 19th, 1936. It was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of diariodemallorca.es.

Muchas gracias.