Leopoldo Saro y Marín, 1st Count of Playa de Ixdain (January 11, 1878 – August 19, 1936) was a

Spanish military The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. His success in the

Alhucemas landing The Alhucemas landing (; also known as Al Hoceima landing) was a landing operation which took place on 8 September 1925 at Alhucemas by the Spanish Army and Navy and, in lesser numbers, an allied French naval and aerial contingent, that would ...

earned him the title of Conde de la Playa de Ixdain, for the beach where the troops he led landed.

Early life

On January 11, 1878, Saro was born as Leopoldo Sato y Marin in

Morón, Cuba Morón is a city and a municipality in Ciego de Ávila Province in central Cuba. It is one of ten municipalities in the province, and is the second in importance and the oldest. Morón is the closest city to the tourist resorts on Cayo Coco and ...

Career

In 1921 during the

Rif War The Rif War (, , ) was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several ...

, Saro was posted to Morocco, where he stands out in numerous military actions with the generals Cabanellas, Sanjurjo and Berenguer among others, resulting in his promotion to the rank of general. General Saro was a member of the conspiracy nucleus known as the Quadrilateral that played an important role in the Coup of Primo de Rivera in September 1923. Not a political man, he returned quickly to Africa to organize the preparations of the

, where he directed with success one of the columns of attack, by whose action was promoted to

General of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

and the concession of Count of Playa de Ixdain on behalf of

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

. With the arrival of the Second Republic, General Saro leaves the service and is prosecuted by a Tribunal of Political Responsibilities for his actions in the 1923 ruling, for which he was sentenced for the crime of high treason and aid, and entered in prison, to be amnestied in 1934.

Personal life

On August 19, 1936, Saro was assassinated in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

by Republican militias, in spite of not being proven his adherence to Franco's military uprising.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saro, Leopoldo 1878 births 1936 deaths Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Spanish–American War Spanish military personnel of the Rif War Assassinated Spanish military personnel Deaths by firearm in Spain Cuban emigrants to Spain People killed by the Second Spanish Republic People convicted of treason against Spain Spanish people in Spanish Cuba