Murder of José Canalejas

The murder of José Canalejas took place in Madrid's Puerta del Sol on November 12, 1912, resulting in the death of the then president of the government of Spain. In this tragic way ended the second attempt at "regeneration from within" the political regime of the Restoration during the reign of Alfonso XIII.

Description of the facts

José Canalejas, president of the Council of Ministers and leader of the Liberal Party, was attacked on the morning of that day while he was looking at the books displayed in the window of the San Martín Bookstore, a few steps from the corner of Puerta del Sol (current number 6) with Carretas street in the heart of Madrid. The aggressor, Manuel Pardiñas, an anarchist, fired three shots; Only the third hit Canalejas, who died practically instantly after the bullet pierced his skull. Moments later he was subdued by a police officer with a baton and, feeling cornered, he committed suicide by shooting himself twice with the same pistol from the attack. Although this has recently been questioned

Canalejas died before reaching the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior where he was transferred. Watching the body inside the bookstore were admirers and party colleagues, among whom was the deputy and ship captain Emilio Díaz-Moreu. Francisco Franco published under the pseudonym Jakim Boor the book Masonry where he accused Freemasonry of having murdered José Canalejas, being himself a Freemason, to take revenge for the rebellion of he.

It cannot be known with certainty whether the attack responded to a premeditated plan or not; Pardiñas' stay in the area could have been due to his intention to attack Alfonso XIII, since according to the police investigation, Canalejas' presence in Puerta del Sol could not have been foreseen in advance.

Consequences

The murder of Canalejas was not the first assassination of a head of government. In 1870, General Juan Prim had been assassinated in a confused attack, and in 1897, the conservative politician Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was also assassinated by an Italian anarchist. The murder of Canalejas led to a profound reorganization of the police and security services, which included the creation of the new General Directorate of Security. It also involved the creation of specific units to combat anarchist terrorism: this was the case of the "Information Brigade" and also the "Brigade of Anarchism and Socialism."

In the political sphere, the so-called "Restoration Crisis" began shortly after the disappearance of Canalejas.

Media

In 1912 Enrique Blanco and Adelardo Fernández Arias made a 5-minute silent semi-documentary short film about his murder and burial titled Murder and burial of Don José Canalejas, which was the first film performed by the actor José Isbert, twenty-six years old.

In 2019, the Mega television channel (from the Atresmedia group) dedicated a chapter of its series Crimes that changed history to the murder of Canalejas.