Guinea during the Second Republic. The "Scandal Nombela" (Implications in Spain on a Case of Colonial Corruption)

Abstract

The “Nombela accusation” is a clear example of the fact that, as with
other episodes of European history, “distant colonial realities” have a decisive influence on the policy of the Metropolis and in the lives of the settlers. The gravity of the facts which were made known to the Parliament in November 1935 by the General Inspector for Colonies, precipitated the breakup of the conservative coalition that had been governing since 1933, formed by the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wings (CEDA), led by José María Gil-Robles, the Radical Party of Alejandro Lerroux and smaller groups. Nombela’s disclosure of the network of corruption that, by commission or omission, undermined the structures of the political parties in power and their
leaders, had a profound impact on public opinion. The subsequent discrediting of the republican institutions was crucial -along with other causes- in the collapse of that regime, since it precipitated the elections in February 1936. The victory of the Popular Front in an environment of maximum polarization would be the pretext for the military uprising that led to the Spanish Civil War. Events that, despite all the firewalls designed during the Transition period that followed the death of General Francisco Franco, still hover in the collective consciousness of Spain, conditioning its political life until today.