Alicante in the Twentieth Century

Alicante in the Twentieth Century

Alicante in the Twentieth Century

Up until the 20th century Alicante had very little growth; it was little more than a town not able to live up to its prior glory and was slowly sinking without trace into the annuals of time. This is where you're taking your ALICANTE HOLIDAYS in a minor capitol of the Valencian region that was about to benefit from Spain's neutrality during the 1st World War. New opportunities for the local industries and agriculture sprung up; Alicante served as the main port for exporting fruit and steel overseas. Spain's gold reserve tripled during the War and her government was able to pay a significant portion of the national debt because of it. At last Alicante felt the stirring of new growth.

In 1920 General Damaso Berenguer attempted to conquer the eastern territory around the lands of Melilla and Ceuta, bringing about the beginning of the Rif War in Morocco. He had little success, was defeated in north eastern Morocco by the forces of Abd el-Krim in 1921. For the following five years there was some sporadic fighting. Numerous Alicante inhabitants were drafted to fight against the Rifs; the Spanish soldiers were neither equipped nor trained to the same extent as the Moroccan forces and it didn't help that there was widespread corruption as reported by the officer corps. As a result the Spanish Army adopted ideas from the French Foreign Legion and the Tercio de Extranjeros (Spanish Foreign Legion) was formed, although there were hardly any foreigners in the force. The second in command was the General Francisco Franco. The Rif war came to an end in 1926, when Abd el-Krim surrendered to French forces.

There was a lot of political unrest at the end of the 1920s. The victory of republican candidates throughout the country led to the abdication of King Alfonso XIII and one of the biggest celebrations took place in Alicante, celebrating the proclamation of the second Spanish Republic in 1931. The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. Fully supporting the military against the republican government, the Falange Espanola, led by Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, became the dominant political movement of the Nationalists. Although on July 6th Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera was captured by the republicans and held captive until being executed in Alicante on the 20th November 1936. As the Republicans began to see the end of the war, Alicante and Valencia were the main ports for their escape and up to 50,000 republicans began to leave the country. On the last few days 15,000 refugees could have been found on the pier; so crowded with no place for anyone to sit, standing for hours hoping to escape the German blockade with Franco and the Italian army closing in. And rumours were flying of French ships coming to take the refugees to safety. The Stanbrook, a British coal-ship, managed to take 2,683 republicans to safety to Algeria and was the last ship that would run the blockade; however the French authorities refused them entry relenting only when the captain threatened to ram his ship into the harbour side.

Following the end of the Spanish Civil War Franco's 20 year dictatorship proves hard for Spain, although with the advent of the 1950s and 1960s bringing in renewed life as tourism begins to transform the face of large towns and cities like Alicante. The promise of all year sun and the clear waters of the Mediterranean help bring in new businesses. Large buildings soon grow, restaurants and bars once again begin to prosper and the death of Franco in 1975 bought about more change as his successor Juan Carlos I, oversaw the transfer of power to democratic constitutional monarchy. Regions were given more autonomy, at long last war is over and it looks like a bright sunny period for Spain and your ALICANTE HOLIDAYS.

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