Didn’t Indalecio Prieto leave a lasting mark on Madrid? Right here before us stands a plaque commemorating Indalecio Prieto. It honors his contributions to the city and to Spain.
Indalecio Prieto was a prominent Spanish politician. He served as a minister in the Second Republic. Born in Oviedo in 1883, Prieto’s early life was marked by hardship. At age six, his father passed away. His mother relocated the family to Bilbao. There, he sold magazines to survive. He became a stenographer at La Voz de Vizcaya. Later, he worked as a journalist at El Liberal. He rose to become the newspaper’s director and owner.
Prieto joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party PSOE at 16. He became a leading figure of socialism in the Basque Country. During World War I, Spain’s neutrality boosted its industry. However, workers’ salaries didn’t reflect this growth. Social unrest culminated in a general strike in 1917. Prieto fled to France to avoid arrest for his involvement.
He returned to Spain in 1918. He was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies. Prieto strongly criticized the government’s actions during the Rif War. He questioned the king’s role in General Manuel Fernández Silvestre’s actions.
Prieto opposed Francisco Largo Caballero’s collaboration with Miguel Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship. He participated in the Pact of San Sebastián in 1930. This coalition of republican parties aimed to abolish the Spanish monarchy.
When the Second Republic was proclaimed in 1931, Prieto became finance minister. As Minister of Public Works from 1931 to 1933, he expanded hydroelectric projects. He also advanced infrastructure improvements in Madrid. These included the Chamartín railway station and a tunnel linking it to Atocha station. The Spanish Civil War delayed the completion of these projects.
Unlike Largo Caballero, Prieto opposed the general strike and uprising in 1934. He fled to France again. Prieto became known as a moderate compared to Largo Caballero’s revolutionary stance. Before the Republic, Prieto arguably maintained a more radical line than Largo Caballero.
In a stirring speech in Cuenca in 1936, Prieto urged moderation. He emphasized discipline and warned against revolutionary excesses. He declared he carried Spain within his heart. The republican press and even José Antonio Primo de Rivera praised the speech. However, radicals within his party were hostile.
In 1936, an assassination attempt occurred at a socialist rally in Écija.
During the Civil War, Prieto pleaded with Spanish republicans not to imitate the Nationalists’ ruthlessness. However, the Modelo Massacre in Madrid saddened him. He expressed pessimism, saying this brutality meant they had lost the war.
In September 1936, Largo Caballero became head of government. Prieto became Minister of Marine and Air. Later, under Juan Negrín, he served as Minister of Defense. The Spanish Republic faced international isolation. Soviet aid was hampered. The French border remained closed.
After defeats in 1937 and 1938, Prieto resigned from the government. He went into exile in Mexico. There, he attempted to form a republican government-in-exile. He hoped to restore Spanish democracy. This failed, leading to his retirement from politics. Indalecio Prieto died in Mexico City in 1962.
The Ayuntamiento de Madrid installed this plaque to commemorate the centenary of Indalecio Prieto’s birth. The plaque features a bronze bas-relief of Prieto by Miguel Ángel Calleja. It stands as a testament to his life and work. The Indalecio Prieto Plaque serves as a reminder of a pivotal figure in Spanish history.