Alfonso Armada Comyn, 9th Marquis of Santa Cruz de Rivadulla (12 February 1920 – 1 December 2013) was a Spanish military officer involved in both the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and the

1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt A coup d'état was attempted in Spain in February 1981 by elements of the Civil Guard and the Spanish military. The failure of the coup marked the last serious attempt to revert Spain to a Francoist government and served to consolidate Spain ...

Biography

Armada was born into an aristocratic and pro-monarchist family. He joined the

Nationalist faction The Nationalist faction (), also Rebel faction () and Francoist faction () was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup of July 1936 ...

in the

and also participated in the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and the

Blue Division The 250th Infantry Division (), better known as the Blue Division (, ), was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain operating from 1941 to 1943 within the German Army () on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated t ...

. Armada rose in prestige over decades, eventually becoming a tutor, and then an aide, to

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

, and becoming part of the

Royal Household of Spain The Royal Household of Spain, officially Household of His Majesty the King (), is the constitutional body whose primary function is to provide aid and support to the King of Spain in the exercise of his royal duties and prerogatives. These inc ...

when Juan Carlos became king. Armada was a major figure in the

. Though he pretended to be a mediator in the coup by going to the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

after

Antonio Tejero Antonio Tejero Molina (born 30 April 1932) is a Spanish former lieutenant colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most prominent figure in the failed coup d'état against the newly democratic Spanish government on 23 February 1981. Career Te ...

had taken the legislature hostage, Armada's full involvement soon came to light: He was one of the "three main conspirators", and had planned to become president. When Armada went to the legislature, he and Tejero disagreed about the direction of the government, and the coup fell apart. Within five days, Armada was dismissed from all positions and arrested. In April 1983, Armada was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but received a

compassionate release Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of "particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by t ...

in December 1988 for health reasons. He spent the rest of his life in Rivadulla, Galicia, Spain, and died in 2013.

References

1920 births 2013 deaths Blue Division personnel Spanish army officers Spanish transition to democracy Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) {{Spain-mil-bio-stub Spanish prisoners and detainees Pardon recipients People convicted of treason against Spain Military personnel who were court-martialed