Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra (Tordesillas, Valladolid, 1875 – Seville, 1951), whose mortal remains have been exhumed this morning from the Basilica de la Macarena in Seville by virtue of the Democratic Memory Law, was known during the Civil War and the immediate post-war period as the viceroy of Andalusia and was one of the leaders of the 1936 uprising and responsible for the repression in Andalusia at a later date.
Queipo de Llano was born in February 1875 in Tordesillas (Valladolid) and after being educated in a seminary as a soldier, he fought in the Spanish-American War, better known as the Cuban War, and in the Rif War. In 1923, almost 50 years old, he was promoted to brigadier general. He initially supported the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, but his subsequent criticism of his government earned him his transfer to the reserve in 1928.
He conspired to overthrow the Alfonsine monarchy and led the Cuartelada de Cuatro Vientos (1930), which forced him into exile in Portugal.
Once the Republic was proclaimed, he was appointed general capital of Madrid and general inspector of the Army, contributing fundamentally to the success of Manuel Azaña's military reforms. He became one of the military personalities of the democracy, assuming republican values as his own.
Later he was appointed chief of the fourth military officer of the President of the Republic, Niceto Alcalá Zamora, of whom he would become his brother-in-law, until he resigned in 1933 as a result of criticism received, given his position, for a series of interferences in political life. .
Contrary to the course of events in republican politics, and especially after the dismissal of Alcalá Zamora, he did not disdain, he collaborated and led, together with Generals Emilio Mola, Francisco Franco and José Sanjurjo, the military coup against the democratic government of the Popular Front.
He led it from his destination in Seville with a small number of men and led a strong repression from July 1936. He was responsible for the execution of more than 45,000 people. The Spanish-Irish writer Ian Gibson accused him in his biography of Federico García Lorca of also ordering the execution of the poet from Granada.
During that time, he stood out for his use of broadcasting as a means of psychological warfare, with his famous proclamations through Unión Radio Sevilla. Every day, generally at ten o'clock at night, in order to terrify the enemy and harangue the supporters of the uprising in the Republican zone, in a bloody language he mocked the leaders of the Republic and encouraged his soldiers to kill "red" and rape their women with comments like:
"In San Fernando there are many relatives of crew members of the pirate squad who are in our power; they will serve us as hostages and their lives will answer for those who die in San Sebastián."
"The no less famous Pasionaria — who has taken it out on me because she doesn't realize that I sincerely admire, and not in jest, her rise from a 30-real maid to a top figure in the regime."
"Our brave legionnaires and regulars have shown the cowardly reds what it means to be real men. And, in turn, their women. This is totally justified because these communists and anarchists preach free love. Now at least they will know what that they are real men and not fagot militiamen. They are not going to get away no matter how much they bawl and kick."
"Tomorrow we are going to take Peñaflor. Let the women of the Reds prepare their mourning shawls."
"We are determined to apply the law with inexorable firmness: Morón, Utrera, Puente Genil, Castro del Río, go preparing graves! I authorize you to kill like a dog anyone who dares to coerce you; If you do so, you will be exempt from all responsibility."
Appointed head of the Army of the South, he assumed the military and civil government, and throughout the war he acted with almost total independence, which led to his being known as the Viceroy of Andalusia. Promoted to lieutenant general after Franco's triumph, he gradually lost the prestige and confidence of Francisco Franco, who relegated him.
He died on March 9, 1951 in his property in the municipality of Camas (Seville), which the Seville City Council had given him by popular subscription. He was buried the next day in the basilica of La Macarena in Seville.
