born Nov. 27, 1898, Salamanca, Spain
died Sept. 14, 1980, Madrid
Spanish politician.
A lawyer, in 1931 he formed the Catholic party Acción Popular, which became the main component of the right-wing coalition CEDA, a powerful bloc in the Spanish Second Republic after 1933. In 1935 he served as minister of war. In 1936 he led an alliance of CEDA and other conservative parties in the Cortes, but the majority of seats were held by the leftist Popular Front. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he purchased arms for the rebels, then lived in exile in Portugal (1936–53, 1962–64). He worked to establish a Christian Democratic party in Spain and after Franco's death (1975) reemerged briefly as a political leader.