Basque spies at Madrid (1946-1948): organisation, agents and information sources

Abstract

The dismantlement of the Alava network in 1940 was a hard blow for the Basque Information Service, but it did not mean its end. After a few months of an increasing uncertainty about the disappearance of the lehendakari, in 1942 the SVI managed to be restored and reached their glory after World War II, especially in Madrid. In this work we will analyse the high level of infiltration and access to sources of information achieved by the agents deployed in the capital of Spain in the military, police, social and political sectors. We will also see how some republican parties made use of the communication channels opened by the basques and their connections with the monarchy sector opposed to Franco, what shows that at the end of the forties the SVI reached a development superior to any other organisation of that type within the movement of opposition to Franco.