Antagonistic regimes in Iberian Peninsula. Salazarism versus Republic: transformation or survival

transformation or survival

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to show Spanish Portuguese relations at critical moments in the construction of the Estado Novo and the impact of the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in Portugal. The synchrony between both internal regimes in Portugal and Spain during the military dictatorships collapses with the fall of Primo de Rivera and the establishment of a republican regime across the border. Portugal perceives it with alarm and as a danger to the Estado Novo and their national independence. With the triumph of the Popular Front, one becomes aware of the impossibility of coexistence within the Iberian soil of two political systems that are not only antagonistic but also irreconcilable.