Primo de Rivera, José Antonio (prē`mō thā rēvā`rä), 1903–36, Spanish political leader, son of Miguel Primo de Rivera. Founder (1933) of the Falange Falange (fälän`hā) [Span.
..... Click the link for more information. , the Spanish fascist party, José Antonio was executed (Nov., 1936) by the Loyalists after the outbreak of the Spanish civil war Spanish civil war, 1936–39, conflict in which the conservative and traditionalist forces in Spain rose against and finally overthrew the second Spanish republic.
..... Click the link for more information. . He became a right-wing martyr and was celebrated by Francisco Franco Franco, Francisco (fränthēs`kō fräng`kō), 1892–1975, Spanish general and caudillo [leader].
..... Click the link for more information. 's Nationalist Movement.

Primo de Rivera, José Antonio

(born April 24, 1903, Madrid, Spain—died Nov. 20, 1936, Alicante) Spanish politician. Son of the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, he began a legal career in 1925. In 1933 he founded the Spanish fascist party, the Falange, and was elected to the Cortes (parliament). He expounded his views in his periodicals F.E. (1934) and Arriba (1935) and made speeches across Spain. After the leftist Popular Front came to power (1936), he was arrested, given a summary trial, and executed at age 33. He was treated as a martyr by Francisco Franco's Nationalist movement.