Spain marks 90 years since 1936 military coup that sparked civil war
On July 18, 1936, a right‑wing military uprising led by General Francisco Franco began in Spanish Morocco and spread to the mainland, igniting the Spanish Civil War that lasted until 1939. The 90th anniversary is being observed across Spain.
In Tenerife, the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory held a ceremony at the corner of Castillo and Cruz Verde streets to honour Francisco Muñoz Serrano, the first fatal victim of the coup on the island. Organisers said the event aims to give a name and a face to the violence that started the dictatorship.
Historical pieces recount the coup’s international dimension – the non‑intervention pact signed by Britain and France, the support received by Franco from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and the later involvement of the Soviet Union on the Republican side. Analyses also explore the social basis of the conflict, the role of the working class, and the way memories of the war are contested in contemporary Spain.
Current political debates reference the legacy of the coup, with opinion polls showing a divided public: roughly half of respondents now favour maintaining the monarchy while a substantial minority would support a move to a republic. Parties on the left continue to invoke the anniversary to call for constitutional change and to denounce lingering Francoist symbols.