Long live the republic? Catalan entrepreneurs in the early republican period

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Soledad Bengoechea

Between 1917 and 1923, Barcelona became the epicentre of intense social conflict, to the extent that it was known as the city of pistolerismo¹. This period of unrest was followed by successive military dictatorships which, by restricting political and social freedoms, managed to temporarily pacify the so-called “social question”. With the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931, civil liberties were reinstated. The anarcho-syndicalist trade union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), which had been instrumental in organising the strikes during the years of gun violence, was legalised once again. In the Republic’s early days, a more moderate faction held sway within the CNT, though it was soon displaced by a more radical anarchist current that called for insurrection. As social tensions resurfaced, profound unease spread among the economic elites, who began to mobilise. The present article examines their response.

The Patronal² responds

The CNT’s demands—which included wage increases, exclusive hiring through union-run Labour Exchanges, paid holidays, full pay during illness or injury, and old-age pensions—prompted the government to develop a programme of social reforms. The prospect of reformism caused significant alarm among Catalan employers. Determined to intervene, they issued a nationwide appeal to the Spanish business community. The aim was to convene a mass assembly before the President of the Provisional Government in order to exert pressure and forestall such reforms.

The appeal proved successful, drawing over 500 representatives from employers’ associations across Spain to Madrid—a figure indicative of the sheer number of associations in which the Patronal was organised. On 5 June 1931, a formal gathering was held in the Senate Palace. The President of the Fomento del Trabajo Nacional (FTN) presented a memorandum to the President of the Government, Niceto Alcalá Zamora, and to the Ministers of Economy and of the Interior.

While expressing a degree of understanding for the wave of labour unrest that spring—regarding it as a natural phase of adjustment amid broader societal transformation—the Patronal nonetheless insisted that the social question required urgent governmental intervention. As a solution, the FTN’s president proposed the creation of a corporatist mechanism, though he refrained from specifying its exact nature. During the pistolerismo years, such mechanisms had taken the form of compulsory membership in corporative trade organisations for both employers and workers. He attributed the deterioration in industrial relations to the absence of a suitable legal framework for the management and resolution of labour disputes.

The proposed mechanism, he argued, would need to wield a form of authority— “perhaps more moral than legal”—capable of securing legitimacy and compliance from both capital and labour. He further called for the reinforcement of state authority to ensure the proper functioning of the legal order. Social reform, he stressed, need not be feared—provided it was pursued through democratic deliberation and ratified by the legislature.

In February 1932, as the reform proposal approached parliamentary debate in the Spanish Cortes, the Patronal launched a vigorous campaign. Leaders of the FTN contacted 48 economic associations across Catalonia and the rest of Spain, and once again, a delegation travelled to Madrid to lobby ministers and members of parliament. These efforts culminated in the submission of a formal memorandum to the Presidente del Gobierno (Prime Minister). The campaign proved effective: the proposal was ultimately never tabled for debate in Parliament.

Another initiative pursued by the Catalan Patronal involved reviving the idea of a “Unified Employers’ Trade Union”—a militant organisation reminiscent of the Federación Patronal de Barcelona, which had operated prior to General Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship. That earlier union, which unified the majority of Catalan employers and maintained close ties with the military, had functioned as a formidable force against both the labour movement and the governments of the Restoration.

On this matter, the Chief of Police of Barcelona made the following statement to a journalist from La Voz on a cold January day in 1932:

“Regarding the possible re-emergence of an Employers’ Trade Union that had previously operated in Barcelona, I must say this: just as workers’ associations that respect the law are respected, so too will employers’ associations be respected if they do the same. But I could not tolerate for a single moment any union—whether of workers or employers—that seeks to operate outside the law. On this point, my views are clear and unwavering. Within the law: everything—the police will assist, protect, and support. Outside the law: nothing—the police will be relentless”.

The Patronal reacted poorly to the authorities’ refusal to permit the re-establishment of the Sindicato Patronal Único (Unified Employers’ Trade Union). Rather than discouraging them, this setback only reinforced their determination to reorganise. On 24 December 1932, a large assembly convened at the FTN headquarters, drawing delegations from numerous economic organisations. The purpose of the meeting was laid out by the FTN’s president:

“It is to establish coordination and permanent relations among the economic associations of Catalonia in order to achieve greater effectiveness in the work each one undertakes within its respective sector, with regard to issues and problems of a general nature that affect them all—both within the framework of the Catalan economy and in the broader context of the Spanish economy. Although the most representative entities have, for some time now, been acting in complete agreement across all sectors of Catalan economic life, the need to unite their forces is being increasingly felt”.

The assembly approved the proposed plan and, as an initial step, agreed to establish a coordinating body—a type of employers’ organisation—to be known as the Junta de Enlace de las Sociedades Económicas de Cataluña (Liaison Board of Catalan Economic Societies). This body would be composed of the presidents of the affiliated associations, each representing different branches of production. Lluís Bosch-Labrús, president of the Fomento del Trabajo Nacional (FTN), was appointed to lead the organisation. A standing committee, made up of the presidents of selected member associations, would be responsible for the day-to-day functions of the Board. In theory, its role included responding to consultations and concerns raised by business owners.

In practice, the Junta de Enlace became a powerful unifying force for Catalonia’s economic elites. In the hands of the Patronal, it functioned as a highly effective instrument of pressure. From the early Republican period until the outbreak of the Civil War, the Board maintained a constant presence in Catalonia’s economic (industrial, commercial, and agricultural), political, and social life. When a dispute emerged within a particular sector, it was customary to contact the president of the Junta so the Board could intervene with the authority derived from its broad base of affiliated employers’ associations. It was also deeply engaged in its relations with political authorities, corresponding regularly with both the central government and the Generalitat whenever it deemed intervention necessary. Through such actions, the Junta de Enlace underscored, once again, the intimate ties between economic and political power.

Lluís Bosch-Labrús i Blat, who presided over both the Junta de Enlace and the FTN, was a key figure in this network of economic influence. His leadership warrants a brief biographical sketch.

An industrial engineer by training, Bosch-Labrús was elected president of the FTN in February 1929, a position he would retain throughout the Republican era. Within the FTN, he represented the metallurgical sector, which had begun to assert itself over the traditionally dominant textile industry since the First World War. A member of the Lliga Regionalista (Regionalist League), he was elected to the Barcelona City Council following the municipal elections of February 1922. During the same period, he also chaired the Liga de Defensa Comercial e Industrial. In 1926, he was ennobled with the title of Viscount of Bosch-Labrús. Married to Rafaela López-Guijarro, he had two daughters. He died on 15 September 1942 in Geneva, where he had travelled in an attempt to recover from illness. Bosch-Labrús was responsible for transforming his father’s clothing bazaar into El Águila, a department store that became a landmark in Barcelona and a reference point throughout Spain. He was also a close friend of Francesc Cambó, the prominent leader of the Lliga Regionalista.

The Junta de Enlace held its first public event just a few months after its founding, in April 1933, and remained consistently active until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

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¹ A term referring to the violence carried out by armed groups and hired gunmen during the labour conflicts of the early 20th century in Spain.

² Catalan Employers Federation

Source: educational EVIDENCE

Rights: Creative Commons