Spanish Civil War communications marked on 90th anniversary

The July 1936 uprising that started the Spanish Civil War was reported across the Pyrenees within hours. France, led by socialist Prime Minister Léon Blum, maintained constant telegraph and telephone contact with Madrid and Barcelona, while Britain adopted a neutral stance, fearing a wider European war. The ensuing bombings and rebel advances severed many landlines, turning each call to France into a race against time. In August 1936 the Non‑Intervention Pact was signed in London by a committee of 27 nations, a promise that was broken from the first day.

Despite the disrupted communications, a large number of foreign correspondents arrived in Spain. They relied on three short‑wave radio stations on Madrid’s outskirts—Transradio Española in Aranjuez, Radiar in Vallecas, and CTNE in Pozuelo del Rey—to transmit news to Europe and the Americas. These stations proved the most reliable link for journalists sending reports, photographs and film during the conflict’s early months.