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| riots and civil unrest in spain | |
| 1909 riots | |
| 1909 in spain | |
| anarchism | |
| history of barcelona | |
| history of catalonia | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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It was caused by the calling-up of reserve troops by Prime Minister Antonio Maura to be sent as reinforcements when Spain renewed military-colonial activity in Morocco on July 9 . Minister of War Arsenio Linares Y Pombo called up the Third Mixed Brigade of Chasseurs , which was composed of both active and reserve units in Catalonia . Among these were 520 men who had completed active duty six years earlier who had not anticipated further service. Substitutes could be hired if one did not wish to fight - but this cost 6,000 reales, which was beyond the means of most laborers. These actions, coupled with . By Tuesday, workers took over Barcelona, halting troop trains and overturning Trams . By Thursday, there was street fighting, with a general eruption of riots, strikes, the burnings of Convents . Many of the rioters were antimilitarist, anticolonial –and anticlerical. The rioters considered the Church to form part of the corrupt bourgeois structure whose sons did not have to go to war, and the fans had been flamed against the Church by anarchist elements within this city. Thus, not only convents were burned, but Sepulchers were profaned and graves were emptied –with many of the rioters dancing with the corpses taken out of them. After disturbances in downtown Barcelona, security forces shot at demonstrators in the Les Rambles ( Las Ramblas ), resulting in the construction of barricades in the streets and the proclamation of martial law. The government, declaring a state of war, sent the army to crush the revolt, causing dozens of deaths. The Barcelonan troops stationed in the city having refused to shoot their compatriots, troops were brought in from Valencia , Zaragoza , Pamplona , and Burgos , who finally crushed the revolt. AFTERMATH Police and army casualties were 8 dead and 124 wounded. Of the civilians, 104-150 (the numbers vary) were reportedly killed. The government's reaction to the riots was not only brutal but arbitrary. Over 1,700 individuals were indicted in military courts for "armed rebellion". 5 were sentenced to death and executed (including Francisco Ferrer , founder of the Escuela Moderna ); 59 received sentences of life imprisonment. Alejandro Lerroux fled for exile. General European condemnation in the press was immediate, and King Alfonso XIII , alarmed by the reaction at home and abroad, removed Prime Minister Antonio Maura from power in the wake of the Tragic Week, replacing him with the liberal Segismundo Moret Y Prendergast . SOURCES
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