Spanish coup of July 1936 in the Albacete province
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The 1936 coup in the Albacete province was part of a nationwide military-civilian revolt. On July 19–20 the rebels easily gained control of the entire province, but it remained an isolated island of insurgency surrounded by areas controlled by the loyalists. On July 21 loyalist troops advancing from the Levantine coast made first incursions into the province and with little combat they advanced West during the next few days. Following a few hours of urban fighting, on July 25 the rebels surrendered in Albacete and soon the entire province fell back under the government control.
July 1936 coup in Albacete | |||||||
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Part of the Spanish Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
loyalists (later known as Republicans) | rebels (later known as Nationalists) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
José Balibrea Vera | Ángel Molina Galano | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
ca 4,000 | ca 1,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
unknown | unknown |
The battle for the province was fought by relatively minor forces. The rebels amounted to slightly more than 1,000 men. Though they were mostly civil volunteers, their core was formed by some 350 Guardia Civil troops; the overall command was with the provincial Benemérita head, comandante Angel Molina Galano. The loyalists were some 4,000 men. Most of them were members of workers’ militias, but their strength relied on 6 companies detached from the army, navy and Carabineros units; they were led by comandante José Balibrea Vera. The number of casualties is not clear, though the KIAs probably did not exceed 100-200 men.
The coup in the province was marked by some unique features. Albacete was one of 28 provincial capitals where the rebels seized control, but one of only 2 where they were soon defeated by the loyalists. Unlike in most other provinces the coup was staged mostly by Guardia Civil, and unlike in most others, it was defeated by the military. The loyalist takeover of the province represented the largest single territorial gain of the Republicans during the entire Civil War.