Editing Cáceres, Spain (section)

===Civil war===
[[File:Cáceres - Plaza de América y Cruz de los Caídos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Plaza of América and Monumental Cross to the Civil War Fallen in Cáceres]]
In the [[Spanish Civil War]], the military forces of Cáceres supported the [[coup d'état]] of 1936. When the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|rebel forces]] freed the [[Falangist Movement of Spain|Falangist]] Luna, he mobilized about a thousand sympathizers in the city and began to issue orders to occupy the principal surrounding towns, as well as the capture of the main strategic points such as the border points with Portugal, ports, and bridges. The repression by the [[Francoist Spain|Francoists]] began immediately, with the assassination of the director of Union and Labor, Pedro Montero Rubio, and the mayor of Cáceres Antonio Canales González, among others, a total of more than 600 people shot, about 220 during Christmas 1937. The constitutional governor and mayor were imprisoned and replaced by soldiers; the first, Ignacio Mateos Guija, was shot dead by Falangists and four relatives were thrown into the Tagus River, and the business run by his father was illegally confiscated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Juliá Díaz |first1=Santos |title=Víctimas de la guerra civil |date=1999 |publisher=Temas de Hoy |isbn=84-7880-983-X |page=90}}</ref>

The uprising in Cáceres facilitated [[Francisco Franco|General Francisco Franco]]'s advance along the roads of Mérida and [[Badajoz]]. On 26 August 1936, General Franco arrived in Cáceres, where he established his headquarters before beginning the advance on Madrid. There he received his wife [[Carmen Polo|Carmen]] and his [[Carmen Franco, 1st Duchess of Franco|daughter]], whom he had not seen since the day of the [[Coup d'état|military coup d'état]]. Between 8 and 10 October 1936, and on the occasion of Franco's request for military aid to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], The first [[German tanks in World War II|Panzer I model battle tanks]] arrived at the Arguijuelas de Abajo and Arriba castles, which had arrived in [[Seville]] by boat. For several months, a training academy for armored vehicle drivers was established in the castles, directed by the German colonel [[Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma|Wilhelm von Thoma]]. Later the training academy was moved to Cubas de la Sagra, in the [[Community of Madrid|province of Madrid]] and its military equipment took part in combat near the Madrid fronts. The Cáceres airfield also had important air movements, from which the aircraft that attacked the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican forces]] and the [[Condor Legion]] departed.<ref>{{cite web |title=La base alemana de carros de combate en las Arguijuelas, Cáceres (1936-1937) |url=http://www.chde.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1617:la-base-alemana-de-carros-de-combate-en-las-arguijuelas-caceres-1936-1937&catid=67:2008&Itemid=89 |publisher=Wayback Machine. chde.org |access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref>

One of the few reactions of the Republican forces was the bombing of the city on 23 July 1937. That day five [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] twin-engine [[Tupolev '102'|Tupolev aircraft]] under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Jaume Mata Romeu, of the Air Force of the Spanish Republic, which had taken off from the Los Llanos de Albacete airfield, dropped 18 bombs, which affected various buildings (such as the Mayorazgo Palace), the food market, Santa María, the back of the [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] barracks, the town hall, and Nido and Sancti Espíritu streets, causing 35 deaths and numerous injuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=70 aniversario del Bombardeo de Cáceres 1937-2007 |url=http://bombardeocaceres.blogspot.com/}}</ref>