During and after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) those who were members of Masonic lodges were rounded up, arrested, and summarily executed simply for being members of our ancient fraternity. It was reported that Masons were shot, tortured, and murdered by organized death squads all over the Spanish country.
During the war, Father Jean Tusquets (a staunch opponent and antagonist against Freemasonry) along with General Franco's personal chaplain compiled lists of those suspected of having an affiliation with Freemasonry. The lists numbered over 80,000, however there were not even 10,000 Freemasons in Spain or Morocco.
The people on those list became subject to the most brutal injustices and punishments simply because they were somehow tied to Masonry. Lodges and Temples were razed to the ground, set ablaze, and battered by artillery. In some cases when the Nationalist forces came entire lodge rosters were butchered at the hands of the counter-revolution. People were shot, stabbed to death, even thrown into the working engines of steam trains.
After one year of the war, all masons in the Nationalist zone who had not escaped were confirmed dead.
After Franco's troops had defeated the Popular Front government he outlawed Freemasonry in Spain with a decree on March 2nd, 1940. The punishment for most lower level brethren was 12 years in a prison cell, those who were more influencial recieved the death penalty.
Oddly enough four of Franco's generals were masons, as were many Nationalists. After the 1940 decree, Nationalists were given two months to resign from their respective lodges. However many of those masons chose to leave Spain in exile. Among them were many Republicans, Monarchists, Military professionals, and Traditionalists.
