Camilo Alonso Vega (29 May 1889 – 1 July 1971) was a Spanish military officer and minister.

Early life

A childhood friend of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, as a Captain he entered in the Foreign Legion and fought in the Rif War. He was initially assigned as commander of the 9th machinegun company of the 3rd Bandera of the Legion. Later he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Spanish Army in 1935 and full Colonel in December 1936 due to performance on the battlefield.

Spanish Civil War

In July 1936, he supported the 17–18 July ''coup d’etat'' and helped conquer Vitoria, the capital city of the province of Alava for the rebels. In December 1936, he led the defense of the town of Villareal against an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

of the Basque forces. In March 1937 he was appointed as commander of the 4th Brigade of the newly organized Mola’s Navarrese division and, he led this brigade in the

Biscay Campaign The Biscay Campaign ( es, Campaña de Vizcaya) was an offensive of the Spanish Civil War which lasted from 31 March to 1 July 1937. 50,000 men of the Eusko Gudarostea met 65,000 men of the insurgent forces. After heavy combats the Nationalist ...

, in the Battle of Brunete in July 1937, in the Battle of Santander in August, and in the Aragon Offensive, and on April 15 he took the town of Vinaròs (in the province of Castellón) cut in a half the Republican held zone. Later, he led a division in the Battle of the Ebro.

Francoist Spain

After the war in January 1940, he became Sub-Secretary of the Ministry of the Army, which included supervising of the concentration camps and later the head of the

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

(1943-1955). He was the Minister of the Interior of the Francoist Spain from 1956Preston, Paul. (1994). ''Franco.'' Fontana Press. London. p.740 to 1969. He retired from the military in 1959,: remaining as Minister of the Interior nonetheless. He led the opposition inside the francoist government against the Fraga's Press Law. In 1969 he crushed the university demonstrations, because of this, he was nicknamed ''Don Camulo'' by the students (a portmanteau of his given name and

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Camilo Alonso Spanish captain generals Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) 1889 births 1971 deaths People of the Rif War Interior ministers of Spain Government ministers during the Francoist dictatorship