To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Civil War, José Ángel Mañas recreates in Zenda, day by day in this section, what happened in 1936, perhaps the most momentous year in Spain’s recent history.
Monday, October 26, 1936: The Heart of Azaña
Are you all right? —asked the voice of his secretary, Cándido Bolívar, on the other side of the door.
—Perfectly… —said Manuel Azaña—. I’ll be right out.
But he was not at all well. The chest. The damned heart kept giving him trouble again. That sensation of suffocation, the urge to vomit, retching. Had he felt them in a long time? Since Christmas, at least. Everything seemed in order since he had become President of the Republic. And yet with the Uprising, and especially with Lola away, his wife, whom he had sent to France as soon as the rebellion began, his body seemed to rebel against him. His complexion grew paler, everyone noticed. But that pallor was attributed to the wrong reasons. The more malicious saw cowardice, when the reality was worse… and that reality did not want anyone to know it.
—One moment, Candido —said Azaña. He refreshed his face. He looked at himself in the mirror.
He was in the bathroom of his new residence in the Citadel of Barcelona. He had been there for a few days, since, facing the proximity to Madrid of Franco’s troops, Largo Caballero and he had decided that, should Madrid fall, it would be wise to move the head of state away. Obviously, Caballero preferred to remain as the sole leader of the Republic.
Azaña did not dislike the idea. He himself proposed Barcelona as the destination. At first because in Catalonia he was cherished since the approval of the Autonomy Statute — he had been the last Spanish head of government cheered there, the only one in two centuries — and to maintain a certain state presence in the City Condal, very much his own style since Companys was president and, above all, since the FAI of García Oliver controlled it.
But his visit was not welcomed.
The very Companys pointed out that he was not coming to the same Barcelona that would cheer him. Then he was head of the Government. Today Companys welcomed him with many honors, but treating him as an equal, as rulers of allied countries.
Azaña did not like the reception, nor the snub he was subjected to, but there was no choice but to endure…
—One moment…
He refreshed his face again. Feeling a pressure in his abdomen, he unbuttoned his fly. The relief of the bladder did him good. The heart began to return to its normal rhythm. Blood flowed through his body. A scare, it had only been a scare, he repeated to himself as he steadied himself. He drew a deep breath. How much he missed Lola! He realized, when she wasn’t there, how vulnerable he felt without her. But of course Lola was better off in France, and he had to manage on his own…
—Mr. President? —continued Cándido Bolívar—. Has Mr. Companys just called inviting you to dinner? What should I tell him?
—Tell him I accept with great pleasure. It was a passing indisposition —said Azaña.
And he opened the bathroom door.
All the 1936 day-by-day entries
Interview with José Ángel Mañas about 1936 day by day