History repeats itself, although everything seems to indicate that this will be the last time José Antonio Primo de Rivera is exhumed. And it is that, in this case, the transfer of the remains of the founder of the Falange will be carried out at the request of his family. Something very different from what happened on March 31, 1959, when his coffin was taken from the monastery of El Escorial to the basilica of the Valley of the Fallen by order of the very same Francisco Franco.
Although, as explained by the expert in the Franco era and in the Civil War Jose Luis Hernandez Garvi In his work ‘Occultism and esoteric mysteries of Francoism’ (Luciérnaga, 2018), “the dictator did not even deign to attend” the ceremony. More than likely, because he knew that the differences he had maintained in life with this character and the promulgation of the Unification Decree of April 1937 –through which the Falange was filled with leaders related to his person after the death of its founder– he had earned the hatred of his most ardent followers.
death and burial
Jose Antonio Primo de Riverathe same man who called Franco extremely evasive and cautious after meeting with him in 1934, was shot by the Republic on November 20, 1936 in the courtyard of the Alicante prison. The one to which they had taken him from Madrid after the start of hostilities. An hour after he left this world (according to those present, after “yelling ‘up Spain’ two or three times”) the funeral home van took his remains to the mass grave in a nearby cemetery. Thereafter, the head of the military uprising referred to him as ‘The absent‘ and did not hesitate to elevate him to the category of hero in his favor.
Exhumation of the body of José Antonio Primo de Rivera in the Alicante cemetery. José Antonio’s clothes are identified by his brother Miguel Primo de Rivera and Pilar Millán Astray
Two years later, what remained of his body was placed in a niche in the cemetery of Our Lady of Remedieswhere it remained until the Second Republic surrendered after taking Barcelona.
Once the Civil War was over, Franco decided to exhume his remains and take them to the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The selected date, how could it be otherwise, was November 20, although in 1939. The coffin was covered in velvet and carried by hand from Alicante to his new residence for ten days. The carriers, Falangists, took turns every ten kilometers and fired artillery salutes to honor the deceased during the journey. Just over a week later, the procession arrived in the capital and crossed Gran Vía and Plaza de España on its way to its resting place. Already at his destination, Primo de Rivera was buried at the foot of the main altar of the Basilica after Franco himself dedicated a few words to him: “God give you eternal rest.”
new resting place
The one at El Escorial, although extensive, was a momentary stay. Even before the Valley of the Fallen was inaugurated, back on April 1, 1959, Francisco Franco decided to once again move the remains of the founder of the Falange to Cuelgamuros. «On August 1, 1958, when the Valley was opened to the public, Franco began the procedures for the transfer of the mortal remains of José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Until then they had rested at the foot of the main altar of the Chapel of the Kings, but this measure had offended the monarchists, who considered the temporary burial of the body of a Falangist leader in the crowning work of Felipe II as little more than a profanation”, explains the researcher, historical writer and writer in ‘Occultism and esoteric mysteries of Francoism’.
The exhumation was carried out on March 29, 1959 under the expectation of the media, although in an intimate and unofficial ceremony at the express request of the family. The ABC newspaper recorded the entire process two days later in a report entitled ‘The remains of José Antonio Primo de Rivera were transferred from El Escorial to the Valley of the Fallen, where they received a final burial’.
Transfer of the remains of José Antonio Primo de Rivera to the El Escorial Monastery. In the image, the coffin that contains his remains, makes a stop in the Plaza de Aranjuez while a prayer is said.
In the words of the chronicler, the entire process took place in “impressive silence” at around seven in the evening. The “undersecretary of the Presidency, Mr. Luis Carrero Blanco”, the minister of justice or the provincial head of Falange, did not miss the ceremony, Jesus Aramburu Olaran, among many others. Pilar and Miguel, brothers of the founder of the movement, arrived shortly after to say goodbye, once again, to José Antonio. The removal of the tombstone began shortly after the procession was complete. “At five past eight o’clock it was possible to lift half of the gigantic stone, weighing 3,500 kilos, by means of three iron bars,” wrote ABC.
Once half of the grave was uncovered “to allow a person to enter the grave”, one of the undertakers in charge of the task went down to the hole to make sure that the coffin could be transported without problems. «This was completely eaten away at its lower base, and the zinc box with the remains of José Antonio could be seen on the sides. The rest of the coffin, as well as the Falange flag that covered it, were found intact and in perfect condition. The silver arrows on the sides of the box and its four handles too”, the chronicler made clear.
The body of José Antonio primo de Rivera is carried on the shoulders of the political board of Alicante in the transfer of his mortal remains
At eight twenty the process began as such. The workers passed a rope under the coffin, pulled it and carefully extracted the box, which was placed on the floor of the basilica. The emotion was maximum among those present before the father prior of the Augustinian Community of the Monastery prayed in memory of the deceased. Later, the coffin was placed on the same litter that had been used twenty years before to make the journey from Alicante to the capital. “When the coffin was hoisted, the relatives and attending authorities approached the place,” the chronicler described. Pilar, José Antonio’s sister, was then given the standard that covered the coffin, since she “she had previously expressed this wish.”
The coffin still remained to be watched. Immediately afterwards, six large candles were placed around the box and the first shift began, “formed by high hierarchies of the Movement.” No one was allowed to enter the venue without a special pass at the express wish of the family. In fact, only 24 special passes were distributed to witness the ceremony. Not even the media could access. Only one editor from the newspaper ‘Arriba’ and four from No-Do attended. This is how the latter collected it: «The exhumation of the mortal remains of the founder of the Falange, which for 19 years rested at the foot of the main altar». The images showed the faces of a taciturn family and countless high-profile personalities at the event.
Exhume José Antonio
At eleven o’clock at night, preparations began for Primo de Rivera’s last trip. «The coffin was later hoisted on the shoulders of the ministers […] Solis, […] Arrese, […] Iturmendi […] and White Carrero». Her brothers, several veteran members of the Falange, and “numerous representatives of the Women’s Section” also collaborated. As he was immortalized in the image published three days later, at the head of the entourage was a guard of members and a “monumental laurel wreath” in honor of the deceased.
The next morning, and according to ABC, the roads that led to the place “were full of vehicles of all kinds that transported members of FET and de las Jons.” In the words of the newspapers, a large crowd accompanied the coffin from El Escorial to the Cuelgamuros basilica on a journey of about thirteen kilometers. In this case, the relay shifts were established every one hundred meters.
Upon reaching his destination, and as Garvi points out in his work, Carrero Blanco, then Franco’s right-hand man, received “the insults and whistles from the thousands of Falangists who had gathered on the large esplanade to receive the remains mortals.” It was what was expected and the reason why, almost certainly, the dictator did not want to attend. “With their protests they manifested their direct opposition to Franco, whom they considered a usurper of the principles of the Falangist ideology that José Antonio had defended, and whom they accused of appropriating a myth that did not belong to him”, reveals the author of ‘Occultism and esoteric mysteries of Francoism’. No retaliation was taken against them.
The coffin then entered the basilica, where it was deposited in front of the place it occupies today. “The location of the tomb of José Antonio in the basilica of Cuelgamuros is identical to the one it occupied in the monastery of El Escorial, that is, a very short distance from the main altar and in front of it,” explained ABC. If the great bigwigs of the regime had attended the candle, the same thing happened with that ceremony. Among those present, Agustín Muñoz Grandes or Ramón Serrano Suñer could be glimpsed. A mass and a funeral later, the remains were buried in a tomb on which a tombstone was placed with a simple inscription: « José Antonio ». “Franco had obtained what he wanted, a martyr who symbolized the sacrifice of his fight against evil,” Garvi concludes.