The Llano Amarillo Conspiracy

This photograph taken by Captain of Engineers Sebastián Carrer Vilaseca in 1929 shows a place close to Melilla that the Spaniards called Llano Amarillo.  It was there that the Army of Africa composed of the Moroccan Regulares and the Legion held their annual manoeuvres. 

While there were numerous meetings before 18 July at which officers discussed their rebellion against the Republic, including the famous one at la Esperanza (Tenerife) on 17 June at which Franco, met with his commanders, it is the meeting at Llano Amarillo, which took place only a few days before the uprising, that has gone down in history as emblematic. 

On Sunday, 12 July, aduring a banquet following manoeuvres involving 18,000 men, a group of officers and senior commanders began to shout “coffee! coffee!”, an acronym in Spanish for “Comrades! Arise Spanish Phalange”. Others replied “Always! Always!”. Colonel Juan Yagüe, commander of a Legion unit was moved while General Manuel Romerales Quintero, commander of the Eastern zone of the Protectorate, looked on ignorant of what it all meant. 

Then, on 17 July, after discovering that there had been a leak, a group of officers led by Col. Luis Solans  Labedán and retired lieutenant colonel Juan Seguí Almuzara, head of the Falange Española in Morocco, began the upring that had been planned for the following day. They took military headquarters in Melilla and forced General Romales to surrender command. He was executed on 26 August after being accused of treason and military rebellion by the supporters of the new regime. 

While the manoeuvres at Llano Amarillo had been taking place between 5 and 12 July, a DeHavilland aircraft Dragon Rapide took off from London’s Croydon airport heading to the Canary Islands. Chartered by financier Juasn March, it would carry Francisco Franco from Las Palmas to Tetuan. Along with Ceuta, it would be the next city after Melilla to fall to the rebels before Franco arrived to asume command of the Army of Africa. 

By 10 pm on that 17 July, only two people remained loyal to the Republic. One was Arturo Álvarez Buylla, the interim High Commissioner in Morocco, the other Ricardo de la Puente Bahamonde, commander of the Sania Ramel air base. Both would be executed.