From Redes Libertarias no. 5 (Spring 2026)/on line 11/06/2026
With a PhD in History from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Julián Vadillo Muñoz is a secondary school teacher and a professor of contemporary history at the Carlos III University of Madrid. Specialising in the history of the labour movement, he has focused his research on the history of anarchism, and among his publications is the book, “Historia de la FAI. El anarquismo organizado” (Los Libros de la Catarata, Madrid, 2021).
The Wild Card of Clichés
One of the most frequently used arguments when analyzing the history of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) is to distort, consciously or unconsciously, its true role within the history of the libertarian movement. It is very common to find references to a mythologised FAI, composed almost entirely of iron-fisted figures, or to the exemplary organisation that imposed its particular vision and forceful approach on the CNT trade union. A “dictatorship of the FAI” that not only clashed with the very structure of the libertarian movement but also contradicted the origins of the anarchist body itself.
In reality, if the primary sources of this specific anarchist organisation are analysed in detail, we can verify its compositional heterogeneity, as well as its true role within the libertarian movement. Demystifying the FAI and removing it from its clichés is a task yet to be accomplished.
A Movement of Militant Duality
Although the FAI was founded in July 1927, the model it represented—effectively organising the specific groups scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula and maintaining a dual path of activism for some members between the trade union and socio-political spheres—was not a product of the 1920s, but rather of the origins of organised anarchism in Spain.
As fate would have it, when Giuseppe Fanelli arrived in Spain in December 1868, he carried two sets of statutes with him. One was that of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), which aimed to structure the workers’ movement in Spain. The other was that of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, a group founded by Bakunin to unite the workers’ societies close to the nascent anarchist movement. Even so, the structure of both entities was different. One was guided by the concept of class and the world of work, while the other had a more ideological focus.
Although during Fanelli’s time in Spain, Bakunin formally dissolved the Alliance due to the problems that were about to arise within the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), in Spain this dual membership shaped the course of the Spanish labor movement.
Spanish workers organised themselves into workers’ societies, founding the Spanish Regional Federation (FRE) of the IWA in 1870, following the Barcelona Workers’ Congress.[1] But, at the same time, a parallel organisation emerged alongside the workers’ societies, whose organisation was based not on the concept of class or occupation but on ideological affinity. This group, called the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, had a dual purpose. On the one hand, it aimed to maintain ties of sociability and unity during critical moments for the labor movement, preserving a core of structures that would allow for rapid reorganisation upon a return to legality. On the other hand, there was the development of anarchist ideas through propaganda. However, what was called the Alliance in Spain responded to many criteria, as some members belonged to it, others to Bakunin’s old alliance, and still others were simply contacts of the Russian thinker in Spain.[2]
Although this dual membership was the reason for the division of the International in Spain, a continuation of the division of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) worldwide, the organisational model was here to stay, and the combination of workers’ structures and specific groups became the norm in the history of the libertarian movement.
The Alliance always maintained an active specific group that allowed it to be effective when, in 1881, the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE) was promoted, or when, in 1888, the Pact of Union and Solidarity was created as a workers’ organisation and the Anarchist Organisation of the Spanish Region (OARE) as an organisation of specific groups was promoted.[3] In more critical moments, affinity was more important than professional expertise.[4]
The Search for the Path
The fin-de-siècle crisis of anarchism, brought about by repression and the violent strategies of a small core group, led to a dispersal of forces. However, with the turn of the century and in the wake of the economic crisis of 1898, they began to reorganise into workers’ societies, which led to the calling of solidarity strikes in 1900-1901. This laid the groundwork for what would become, in 1907, the organization Solidaridad Obrera (Workers’ Solidarity) and, in 1910, the founding of the National Confederation of Labor (CNT).
During this time, the distinctive character of anarchism continued to operate through specific local groups, which proliferated in many places, and through the press, the preferred vehicle of organised anarchism. Andalusia, Galicia, Madrid, Catalonia, and other regions became the nerve centres of anarchist propaganda disseminated through these groups and newspapers. What the libertarians lacked at that time was a coordinating body for their activities and a point of contact. Even from abroad—and this would prove decisive in the birth of the FAI—these specific anarchist groups were being encouraged and structured, with significant centers in France, Latin America, and the USA.[5]
The Anarchist Congress for Peace in Ferrol in 1915 and the debates sparked by the Russian Revolution of 1917 fostered the possibility of coordinating anarchist groups in Spain. And there was no shortage of reasons, given that some, like Los Iguales in Madrid, led by Mauro Bajatierra, were setting trends in organisation, structuring, and debate.
Amidst the social struggles in Barcelona and the rise of employer-backed gun violence, with the body of Salvador Seguí still warm, a National Anarchist Congress was held in March 1923, promoted by the Vía Libre group of Zaragoza. From that congress emerged the National Federation of Anarchist Groups,[6] the most immediate precursor to the FAI.
The Founding of the FAI
It was in a hostile environment, such as the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, that the conditions arose for the founding of a coordinating body for the anarchist groups scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula and even beyond.
The dictatorship had condemned anarchism to a clandestine existence or exile. The consequences of employer-backed gun violence fell upon the CNT, which had lost a significant portion of its most valuable militants to the bullets of gunmen (Evelio Boal and Salvador Seguí, among others).
Although many anarchists reached France, North Africa, or crossed the Atlantic to settle in the Americas, others continued their work within the country, taking advantage of the cracks in the dictatorial system itself or establishing a clandestine struggle.
Added to this was the desire to create an organisation that encompassed not only Spain but also Portugal. The development of anarchism in the neighbouring country was rooted in the groups that formed under the auspices of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) in the 1870s. Figures on the margins of anarchism such as Antero do Quental and libertarian militants such as João Bonança, António Joaquim Morais, and Eduardo Maia shaped a significant Portuguese anarchist movement. The arrival of the First Republic in Portugal in 1910 ushered in a process of democratic freedoms that anarchists seized upon to establish the National Workers’ Union (UNE) in 1914, modelled after the Spanish CNT. In 1919, this union became known as the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), with its official publication, A Batalha.
While the trade union movement was taking shape, so too was the specific anarchist movement, given that this dual organisational structure was brought to Portugal by Spanish anarchists. In the early days of the Portuguese Republic, several groups emerged, including the Anarchist Federation of the Northern Region, the Anarchist Federation of the Southern Region, the Algarve Anarchist Union, and the Coimbra Anarchist Alliance. All of these groups culminated in the formation of the Portuguese Anarchist Union (UAP) in 1923.[7]
The Spanish and Portuguese structures maintained constant contact, seeking unity within the Iberian framework of anarchism. The idea that took root in the minds of Portuguese and Spanish libertarians was the creation of a federative entity that would unite the groups of both countries.
On July 1, 1926, in the city of Marseille, the constitution of the FAI was agreed upon, pending ratification at a congress to be held on the Iberian Peninsula. But at that time, the history of Spain and Portugal was not kind to anarchist groups. Since 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera had ruled Spain dictatorially, with the support of King Alfonso XIII. That same year, 1926, in Portugal, General Carmona staged a coup against the Republic and established a military regime, which would form the basis for the Estado Novo [New State] of 1932, with Salazar at its head. The holding of a congress in Portugal to formally establish the FAI was thus prevented.
A year would have to pass, until on July 25th and 26th, 1927, in Valencia and clandestinely, for a number of Portuguese and Spanish anarchist groups, with the participation of members of the trade unions, to found the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). Its foundation was the merger of the Portuguese Anarchist Union, the National Federation of Anarchist Groups of Spain, and the Federation of Spanish-Speaking Anarchist Groups, establishing a Peninsular Committee that would rotate between Spain, Portugal, and France.[8] Establishing the CNT as a sister organisation, the FAI intended to coordinate with it for the dissemination of anarchist propaganda through its affinity groups. Likewise, they distanced themselves from any hypothetical contacts with political groups in opposition to the dictatorship, leaving that task to the CNT, the only organisation with which they would form alliances.
From the outset, a connection was established between the two organisations, each maintaining its independence but sharing common immediate objectives; for example, in the formation of the Committee for Prisoners. Similarly, the FAI would promote newspapers, doctrinal journals, and publishing houses to extend and disseminate anarchist propaganda. Malatesta’s example was reflected in the FAI’s birth.
Far from a monolithic image, the FAI was from its inception a diverse and heterogeneous organisation, depending on its location, the ideas of its affinity groups, and its model for disseminating propaganda. The founding of the FAI involved anarchist militants of various tendencies: Progreso Fernández, Pedro Falomir, Mauro Bajatierra, Melchor Rodríguez, José Alberola, Eleuterio Quintanilla, Manuel Buenacasa, and others.
Opposition to Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship and the type of relationship to be established with the CNT were the most dynamic debates within the FAI, which would reach their peak during the Second Republic.
The FAI in the Republican Period
If there was a time when the FAI’s deliberate myths were forged, it was the Second Republic. The objective set by the FAI at its founding conference in 1927 was the development of anarchist ideas through the formation of specific propaganda groups. These groups, and the FAI as a whole, would determine their relationship with the CNT, the organisation to which most FAI members were affiliated and with which they considered organisational relations. However, it was always made clear that both organisations, operating in different spheres, maintained their independence.
Although FAI militants were trade unionists and acted as such in representative bodies, the struggles within the trade union organisation spilled over into the FAI, which, unwittingly, became embroiled in tensions between pressure groups. The image of the FAI member as an activist who sought to use the CNT’s structures for their own benefit proliferated in some press outlets and trade union circles that never accepted the existence of a federation of groups. But, in reality, most of the people labelled as FAI members were not actually members of the FAI, even though they were given that label. It is true that García Oliver, Durruti, and Ascaso belonged to anarchist groups, but not all anarchist groups were in the FAI. Even the view that figures like García Oliver held of the FAI in 1931 was particularly pejorative.
This issue also arose from the debates within the CNT between the treintistas [thirtyists] and those who opposed its trade union strategy. Because everything was labelled, the opposition was branded as FAI members, but in reality, they had nothing to do with the FAI. The real debate was between syndicalists and anarchists, but the FAI was unwittingly caught up in the power struggles, while also debating them.
The true importance of the FAI during the Second Republic lay in the collaborative bodies they sought to establish with the CNT, which did not always materialise. The most fruitful organizations were the Pro-Prisoners Committees, where both entities collaborated more effectively.
In 1932, the CNT approved the creation and development of the Confederal Defence Groups, as trade union bodies for the development of direct action. These groups left the door open for the FAI to have its own representation. And while in some places this collaboration did occur, in others the CNT blocked any possibility of cooperation with the FAI. This, evidently, generated friction between the anarchist groups and the trade union organisation.
The final point of contention was the so-called Revolutionary Committees. Based on the anarchist analysis that interpreted the Republic as a revolutionary process that had to be continued, in response to the situations that arose during the first two years and up to the 1934 strike, revolutionary committees formed by the CNT and the FAI began to emerge throughout the country. Although they played a leading role in some episodes, they were actually rather ineffective entities, as the final result was not as expected, and the desired unity did not always materialize.[9]
Two further aspects of the FAI during this period should be highlighted. The first was its work in the cultural field and the trans-nationalisation of anarchism. The FAI maintained contact with Spanish anarchist groups in France, America, and North Africa, even supporting a possible African Anarchist Federation.
On the other hand, it was also involved in debates about collaboration with other political groups, where anarchist groups were divided between collaborationists and anti-collaborators. These debates proved fatal, leading to a division within the FAI that lasted until January 1936, when a regrouping of groups took place.[10] Important FAI meetings and plenary sessions clearly distinguished between a specific anarchist group and the various action groups that were not part of the FAI and whose strategies they did not support.
With a united FAI and in the throes of revolutionary fervour, the coup d’état of July 1936 took place.
The FAI in the War and the Revolution
The balance of power and the role played by the FAI would change radically during the war. It was during this time that its subordinate role to the CNT became most evident (never the other way around, as has been suggested). The war marked a policy of collaboration between the libertarian movement and the republican institutions, where the CNT assumed a leading role. There were never any FAI ministers (although some have tried to portray García Oliver and Federica Montseny as such), but rather CNT ministers. The CNT-FAI alliance extended throughout the republican territory, but it was the union that dictated the terms.
This position of subordination was what provoked a change within the FAI itself. That organisation of specific groups based on ideological affinity gave way in July 1937 to an organisation of groups united by a common ideology. The FAI had become an anarchist political party.[11] And in this capacity, it vied for power, even against the CNT, including itself as an organisation within the Popular Front. The FAI criticised many of the CNT’s positions, and there were some well-known clashes between Mariano Rodríguez Vázquez and José Grunfeld.
Alongside the war, the FAI and its members supported the revolutionary process that began in July 1936 and participated in the debates and critiques among the various sectors of antifascism.
But the end of the war meant the repression of the FAI. The Law of Political Responsibilities of February 1939 explicitly listed the FAI as an organisation to be repressed.
The Iberian Anarchist Federation faced almost forty years of clandestinity, exile, and repression.
[1]Primer congreso obrero español (Barcelona, 18-26 de June de 1870), Madrid, Zero ZYX, 1972.
[2] Eckhardt, Wolfgang, La Primera Internacional y la Alianza en España. Colección de documentos inéditos o raros, Madrid, Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo, 2017, p. 25.
[3] Termes Ardevol, Josep, Historia del anarquismo en España (1870-1980), Barcelona, RBA, 2011, p. 105.
[4]Tierra y Libertad, número 4. 1 de diciembre de 1888.
[5] Sánchez Cobos, Amparo, Sembrando ideales. Anarquistas españoles en Cuba, Madrid, CSIC, 2008; Sueiro Seoane, Susana, El anarquista errante. La aventura transatlántica del tipógrafo Pedro Esteve (1865-1925), Madrid, Marcial Pons, 2024.
[6] Gómez Casas, Juan, Historia de la FAI, Madrid, Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo y otros, 2002, pp. 66-67.
[7] Zarcon, Pier Francesco, El anarquismo en la historia de Portugal, Madrid, La Neurosis, 2019, pp. 25-29.
[8] Archivo del Comité Peninsular de la FAI (ACPFAI). “Extracto del acta de la conferencia celebrada en Valencia los días 25 y 26 de julio de 1927”.
[9] Vadillo Muñoz, Julián, Historia de la FAI. El anarquismo organizado, Madrid, Los Libros de la Catarata, 2021, pp. 145-156.
[10] ACPFAI. Actas del Pleno Local de Grupos Anarquistas de Madrid afectos a la FAI. 11 de enero de 1936. Leg. CP-11E.
[11] Estatutos generales de la FAI, Valencia, 1937.
The highest expression of the organisation. Origin and development of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI)
Julián Vadillo Muñoz
From Redes Libertarias no. 5 (Spring 2026)/on line 11/06/2026
With a PhD in History from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Julián Vadillo Muñoz is a secondary school teacher and a professor of contemporary history at the Carlos III University of Madrid. Specialising in the history of the labour movement, he has focused his research on the history of anarchism, and among his publications is the book, “Historia de la FAI. El anarquismo organizado” (Los Libros de la Catarata, Madrid, 2021).
The Wild Card of Clichés
One of the most frequently used arguments when analyzing the history of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) is to distort, consciously or unconsciously, its true role within the history of the libertarian movement. It is very common to find references to a mythologised FAI, composed almost entirely of iron-fisted figures, or to the exemplary organisation that imposed its particular vision and forceful approach on the CNT trade union. A “dictatorship of the FAI” that not only clashed with the very structure of the libertarian movement but also contradicted the origins of the anarchist body itself.
In reality, if the primary sources of this specific anarchist organisation are analysed in detail, we can verify its compositional heterogeneity, as well as its true role within the libertarian movement. Demystifying the FAI and removing it from its clichés is a task yet to be accomplished.
A Movement of Militant Duality
Although the FAI was founded in July 1927, the model it represented—effectively organising the specific groups scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula and maintaining a dual path of activism for some members between the trade union and socio-political spheres—was not a product of the 1920s, but rather of the origins of organised anarchism in Spain.
As fate would have it, when Giuseppe Fanelli arrived in Spain in December 1868, he carried two sets of statutes with him. One was that of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), which aimed to structure the workers’ movement in Spain. The other was that of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, a group founded by Bakunin to unite the workers’ societies close to the nascent anarchist movement. Even so, the structure of both entities was different. One was guided by the concept of class and the world of work, while the other had a more ideological focus.
Although during Fanelli’s time in Spain, Bakunin formally dissolved the Alliance due to the problems that were about to arise within the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA), in Spain this dual membership shaped the course of the Spanish labor movement.
Spanish workers organised themselves into workers’ societies, founding the Spanish Regional Federation (FRE) of the IWA in 1870, following the Barcelona Workers’ Congress.[1] But, at the same time, a parallel organisation emerged alongside the workers’ societies, whose organisation was based not on the concept of class or occupation but on ideological affinity. This group, called the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, had a dual purpose. On the one hand, it aimed to maintain ties of sociability and unity during critical moments for the labor movement, preserving a core of structures that would allow for rapid reorganisation upon a return to legality. On the other hand, there was the development of anarchist ideas through propaganda. However, what was called the Alliance in Spain responded to many criteria, as some members belonged to it, others to Bakunin’s old alliance, and still others were simply contacts of the Russian thinker in Spain.[2]
Although this dual membership was the reason for the division of the International in Spain, a continuation of the division of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) worldwide, the organisational model was here to stay, and the combination of workers’ structures and specific groups became the norm in the history of the libertarian movement.
The Alliance always maintained an active specific group that allowed it to be effective when, in 1881, the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE) was promoted, or when, in 1888, the Pact of Union and Solidarity was created as a workers’ organisation and the Anarchist Organisation of the Spanish Region (OARE) as an organisation of specific groups was promoted.[3] In more critical moments, affinity was more important than professional expertise.[4]
The Search for the Path
The fin-de-siècle crisis of anarchism, brought about by repression and the violent strategies of a small core group, led to a dispersal of forces. However, with the turn of the century and in the wake of the economic crisis of 1898, they began to reorganise into workers’ societies, which led to the calling of solidarity strikes in 1900-1901. This laid the groundwork for what would become, in 1907, the organization Solidaridad Obrera (Workers’ Solidarity) and, in 1910, the founding of the National Confederation of Labor (CNT).
During this time, the distinctive character of anarchism continued to operate through specific local groups, which proliferated in many places, and through the press, the preferred vehicle of organised anarchism. Andalusia, Galicia, Madrid, Catalonia, and other regions became the nerve centres of anarchist propaganda disseminated through these groups and newspapers. What the libertarians lacked at that time was a coordinating body for their activities and a point of contact. Even from abroad—and this would prove decisive in the birth of the FAI—these specific anarchist groups were being encouraged and structured, with significant centers in France, Latin America, and the USA.[5]
The Anarchist Congress for Peace in Ferrol in 1915 and the debates sparked by the Russian Revolution of 1917 fostered the possibility of coordinating anarchist groups in Spain. And there was no shortage of reasons, given that some, like Los Iguales in Madrid, led by Mauro Bajatierra, were setting trends in organisation, structuring, and debate.
Amidst the social struggles in Barcelona and the rise of employer-backed gun violence, with the body of Salvador Seguí still warm, a National Anarchist Congress was held in March 1923, promoted by the Vía Libre group of Zaragoza. From that congress emerged the National Federation of Anarchist Groups,[6] the most immediate precursor to the FAI.
The Founding of the FAI
It was in a hostile environment, such as the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, that the conditions arose for the founding of a coordinating body for the anarchist groups scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula and even beyond.
The dictatorship had condemned anarchism to a clandestine existence or exile. The consequences of employer-backed gun violence fell upon the CNT, which had lost a significant portion of its most valuable militants to the bullets of gunmen (Evelio Boal and Salvador Seguí, among others).
Although many anarchists reached France, North Africa, or crossed the Atlantic to settle in the Americas, others continued their work within the country, taking advantage of the cracks in the dictatorial system itself or establishing a clandestine struggle.
Added to this was the desire to create an organisation that encompassed not only Spain but also Portugal. The development of anarchism in the neighbouring country was rooted in the groups that formed under the auspices of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) in the 1870s. Figures on the margins of anarchism such as Antero do Quental and libertarian militants such as João Bonança, António Joaquim Morais, and Eduardo Maia shaped a significant Portuguese anarchist movement. The arrival of the First Republic in Portugal in 1910 ushered in a process of democratic freedoms that anarchists seized upon to establish the National Workers’ Union (UNE) in 1914, modelled after the Spanish CNT. In 1919, this union became known as the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), with its official publication, A Batalha.
While the trade union movement was taking shape, so too was the specific anarchist movement, given that this dual organisational structure was brought to Portugal by Spanish anarchists. In the early days of the Portuguese Republic, several groups emerged, including the Anarchist Federation of the Northern Region, the Anarchist Federation of the Southern Region, the Algarve Anarchist Union, and the Coimbra Anarchist Alliance. All of these groups culminated in the formation of the Portuguese Anarchist Union (UAP) in 1923.[7]
The Spanish and Portuguese structures maintained constant contact, seeking unity within the Iberian framework of anarchism. The idea that took root in the minds of Portuguese and Spanish libertarians was the creation of a federative entity that would unite the groups of both countries.
On July 1, 1926, in the city of Marseille, the constitution of the FAI was agreed upon, pending ratification at a congress to be held on the Iberian Peninsula. But at that time, the history of Spain and Portugal was not kind to anarchist groups. Since 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera had ruled Spain dictatorially, with the support of King Alfonso XIII. That same year, 1926, in Portugal, General Carmona staged a coup against the Republic and established a military regime, which would form the basis for the Estado Novo [New State] of 1932, with Salazar at its head. The holding of a congress in Portugal to formally establish the FAI was thus prevented.
A year would have to pass, until on July 25th and 26th, 1927, in Valencia and clandestinely, for a number of Portuguese and Spanish anarchist groups, with the participation of members of the trade unions, to found the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). Its foundation was the merger of the Portuguese Anarchist Union, the National Federation of Anarchist Groups of Spain, and the Federation of Spanish-Speaking Anarchist Groups, establishing a Peninsular Committee that would rotate between Spain, Portugal, and France.[8] Establishing the CNT as a sister organisation, the FAI intended to coordinate with it for the dissemination of anarchist propaganda through its affinity groups. Likewise, they distanced themselves from any hypothetical contacts with political groups in opposition to the dictatorship, leaving that task to the CNT, the only organisation with which they would form alliances.
From the outset, a connection was established between the two organisations, each maintaining its independence but sharing common immediate objectives; for example, in the formation of the Committee for Prisoners. Similarly, the FAI would promote newspapers, doctrinal journals, and publishing houses to extend and disseminate anarchist propaganda. Malatesta’s example was reflected in the FAI’s birth.
Far from a monolithic image, the FAI was from its inception a diverse and heterogeneous organisation, depending on its location, the ideas of its affinity groups, and its model for disseminating propaganda. The founding of the FAI involved anarchist militants of various tendencies: Progreso Fernández, Pedro Falomir, Mauro Bajatierra, Melchor Rodríguez, José Alberola, Eleuterio Quintanilla, Manuel Buenacasa, and others.
Opposition to Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship and the type of relationship to be established with the CNT were the most dynamic debates within the FAI, which would reach their peak during the Second Republic.
The FAI in the Republican Period
If there was a time when the FAI’s deliberate myths were forged, it was the Second Republic. The objective set by the FAI at its founding conference in 1927 was the development of anarchist ideas through the formation of specific propaganda groups. These groups, and the FAI as a whole, would determine their relationship with the CNT, the organisation to which most FAI members were affiliated and with which they considered organisational relations. However, it was always made clear that both organisations, operating in different spheres, maintained their independence.
Although FAI militants were trade unionists and acted as such in representative bodies, the struggles within the trade union organisation spilled over into the FAI, which, unwittingly, became embroiled in tensions between pressure groups. The image of the FAI member as an activist who sought to use the CNT’s structures for their own benefit proliferated in some press outlets and trade union circles that never accepted the existence of a federation of groups. But, in reality, most of the people labelled as FAI members were not actually members of the FAI, even though they were given that label. It is true that García Oliver, Durruti, and Ascaso belonged to anarchist groups, but not all anarchist groups were in the FAI. Even the view that figures like García Oliver held of the FAI in 1931 was particularly pejorative.
This issue also arose from the debates within the CNT between the treintistas [thirtyists] and those who opposed its trade union strategy. Because everything was labelled, the opposition was branded as FAI members, but in reality, they had nothing to do with the FAI. The real debate was between syndicalists and anarchists, but the FAI was unwittingly caught up in the power struggles, while also debating them.
The true importance of the FAI during the Second Republic lay in the collaborative bodies they sought to establish with the CNT, which did not always materialise. The most fruitful organizations were the Pro-Prisoners Committees, where both entities collaborated more effectively.
In 1932, the CNT approved the creation and development of the Confederal Defence Groups, as trade union bodies for the development of direct action. These groups left the door open for the FAI to have its own representation. And while in some places this collaboration did occur, in others the CNT blocked any possibility of cooperation with the FAI. This, evidently, generated friction between the anarchist groups and the trade union organisation.
The final point of contention was the so-called Revolutionary Committees. Based on the anarchist analysis that interpreted the Republic as a revolutionary process that had to be continued, in response to the situations that arose during the first two years and up to the 1934 strike, revolutionary committees formed by the CNT and the FAI began to emerge throughout the country. Although they played a leading role in some episodes, they were actually rather ineffective entities, as the final result was not as expected, and the desired unity did not always materialize.[9]
Two further aspects of the FAI during this period should be highlighted. The first was its work in the cultural field and the trans-nationalisation of anarchism. The FAI maintained contact with Spanish anarchist groups in France, America, and North Africa, even supporting a possible African Anarchist Federation.
On the other hand, it was also involved in debates about collaboration with other political groups, where anarchist groups were divided between collaborationists and anti-collaborators. These debates proved fatal, leading to a division within the FAI that lasted until January 1936, when a regrouping of groups took place.[10] Important FAI meetings and plenary sessions clearly distinguished between a specific anarchist group and the various action groups that were not part of the FAI and whose strategies they did not support.
With a united FAI and in the throes of revolutionary fervour, the coup d’état of July 1936 took place.
The FAI in the War and the Revolution
The balance of power and the role played by the FAI would change radically during the war. It was during this time that its subordinate role to the CNT became most evident (never the other way around, as has been suggested). The war marked a policy of collaboration between the libertarian movement and the republican institutions, where the CNT assumed a leading role. There were never any FAI ministers (although some have tried to portray García Oliver and Federica Montseny as such), but rather CNT ministers. The CNT-FAI alliance extended throughout the republican territory, but it was the union that dictated the terms.
This position of subordination was what provoked a change within the FAI itself. That organisation of specific groups based on ideological affinity gave way in July 1937 to an organisation of groups united by a common ideology. The FAI had become an anarchist political party.[11] And in this capacity, it vied for power, even against the CNT, including itself as an organisation within the Popular Front. The FAI criticised many of the CNT’s positions, and there were some well-known clashes between Mariano Rodríguez Vázquez and José Grunfeld.
Alongside the war, the FAI and its members supported the revolutionary process that began in July 1936 and participated in the debates and critiques among the various sectors of antifascism.
But the end of the war meant the repression of the FAI. The Law of Political Responsibilities of February 1939 explicitly listed the FAI as an organisation to be repressed.
The Iberian Anarchist Federation faced almost forty years of clandestinity, exile, and repression.
[1] Primer congreso obrero español (Barcelona, 18-26 de June de 1870), Madrid, Zero ZYX, 1972.
[2] Eckhardt, Wolfgang, La Primera Internacional y la Alianza en España. Colección de documentos inéditos o raros, Madrid, Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo, 2017, p. 25.
[3] Termes Ardevol, Josep, Historia del anarquismo en España (1870-1980), Barcelona, RBA, 2011, p. 105.
[4] Tierra y Libertad, número 4. 1 de diciembre de 1888.
[5] Sánchez Cobos, Amparo, Sembrando ideales. Anarquistas españoles en Cuba, Madrid, CSIC, 2008; Sueiro Seoane, Susana, El anarquista errante. La aventura transatlántica del tipógrafo Pedro Esteve (1865-1925), Madrid, Marcial Pons, 2024.
[6] Gómez Casas, Juan, Historia de la FAI, Madrid, Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo y otros, 2002, pp. 66-67.
[7] Zarcon, Pier Francesco, El anarquismo en la historia de Portugal, Madrid, La Neurosis, 2019, pp. 25-29.
[8] Archivo del Comité Peninsular de la FAI (ACPFAI). “Extracto del acta de la conferencia celebrada en Valencia los días 25 y 26 de julio de 1927”.
[9] Vadillo Muñoz, Julián, Historia de la FAI. El anarquismo organizado, Madrid, Los Libros de la Catarata, 2021, pp. 145-156.
[10] ACPFAI. Actas del Pleno Local de Grupos Anarquistas de Madrid afectos a la FAI. 11 de enero de 1936. Leg. CP-11E.
[11] Estatutos generales de la FAI, Valencia, 1937.