Miguel Primo de Rivera

Spanish politician; dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930

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Lived 1870–1930, aged 60Spain

Spain PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
59 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Spain
#246
Politicians
Era
1870–1930
Aged 60
Awards
17
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

A Spanish general who seized power in 1923 promising a 90-day cleanup, then stayed seven years. His dictatorship suspended the constitution, crushed dissent, and poured money into roads and state monopolies until the economy buckled and his own officers turned on him.

Biography

About

Born into Andalusian aristocracy in 1870, Primo de Rivera rose through the military ranks after fighting in Morocco in 1893, eventually reaching lieutenant general by 1919. On 13 September 1923, amid political chaos over Spain's failing colonial war in the Rif, he staged a coup with backing from Africanist generals and the quiet consent of King Alfonso XIII, suspended the 1876 constitution, and imposed martial law. After the Alhucemas landing crushed Rifian resistance in 1925, he shifted from military to civilian rule and launched a spending spree on infrastructure and state monopolies like Ca…

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