My first attempt at a TL; there will probably be a ton of inaccuracies. The basic premise is that of a Spanish Civil War that grinds into a stalemate and results in the division of the country between Nationalist and Republican states, a la Germany or Korea.
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España no Muere
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Introduction: The Miraculous Escape of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, or the Salvation of the Falange
As read from a Falangist poster appearing in the streets of various Spanish cities under rebel control on the 14th of October 1936:
Attention all Spanish patriots, sons and daughters of our fatherland, who love and honor great and holy Spain! On the 17th of October, Jefe Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera will speak over the radio to address all Falangist comrades and adherents of our glorious National Movement. All in Pamplona who adore the spirit of Spain and pledge themselves to her defense are invited to attend his address in person in the Plaza de Castillo. All who find themselves elsewhere may tune in by radio beginning at the ninth hour of the evening on the aforementioned day. Jefe Primo de Rivera will discuss the future of the Falange and of our reborn Spain, his miraculous escape from the clutches of the reds, and what each and every Spaniard might do to hasten our victory over the Muscovite hordes whose foul footsteps stain the soil of our fatherland.
Viva Primo de Rivera! Viva la Falange! Arriba España!
Excerpt from Beneath the Yoke and Arrows: A History of Falangist Spain by Paul Preston:
La Fuga de Jose Antonio, ‘The flight of Jose Antonio’ has passed into legend, and become a sort of founding myth for the Spanish far right. Consequently, the reality of the Falangist chief’s escape from Republican custody has found itself shrouded in hearsay and rumor, to the point that it is quite difficult, even today, to separate reality from fiction.
What is known for certain is that Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, arrested in March of 1936 by the Republican government and held in a prison at Alicante, successfully sprung himself from captivity on September 29th, mere days before his scheduled execution, reaching the rebel zone a week or so later. By October 5th, he had crossed the Somosierra Pass north of Madrid and soon afterwards made his way into Pamplona, a stronhold of the Nationalist rising (albeit one held by the Carlists, allies of convenience at best to Primo de Rivera’s Falange).
Various wild claims would almost immediately emerge surrounding his escape, such as that an apparition of the Virgin Mary had blinded his Republican jailers and undone the chains and bars between him and freedom, that he had singlehandedly overpowered ten communist militiamen assigned with guarding him, or boldly strolled undisguised down Madrid’s Gran Via on his way north. For his part, Primo de Rivera never made any such boasts himself, but was all too happy to allow them to grow and add to the cult of personality slowly being built around him by his Falangists.
The most probable account of his escape is that which he supposedly related in private to General Juan Yagüe some four years later: that he had been taken from his cell by a sympathetic guard and delivered blindfolded to the outskirts of Alicanted. From there he had, disguised, begged and hiked his way northwards to Pamplona.
Regardless, upon his arrival in that city, he quickly made contact with local Falangists, who wasted no time in arranging him a welcoming parade through the city streets, attended by scores of blueshirts (many shipped in from other cities) and some sympathetic Carlist requetés (much to the chagrin of Carlist leader Manuel Fal Conde, who had little love for Primo de Rivera or fascism in general).
News Primo de Rivera’s escape was greeted with much rage and despair in the Republic’s halls of power, with Largo Caballero supposedly flying into a fit of rage upon being informed. Azaña, true to his usual taciturn, dour self lamented simply that the escape was ‘another dagger in our collective heart'.
However, as overjoyed as the Falange was to have their Jefe alive and well, many prominent Nationalist figures reacted with little more enthusiasm than those of the Republic. To the more traditionally minded in the rebel camp, fascists like Primo de Rivera and his Falangists, with their talk of ‘revolution’ and social reform, were little better than the liberals, communists, and anarchists arrayed against them. He was even referred to as a ‘Bolshevik painted white’ by some.
Francisco Franco’s reaction to the news of Primo de Rivera’s triumphant entry into Pamplona has become itself nearly as famous as the story of his flight itself.
Franco was supposed to have been reading the paper with his morning coffee when informed, and responded simply with a quiet; “mierda!”.