Global InformationRiotinto Mining Column information
| Riotinto Mining Column | |
|---|---|
| Columna minera de Riotinto | |
| Active | 18 July–19 July 1936 |
| Country |  Spanish Republic |
| Allegiance | Republicans |
| Type | Militia |
| Role | Demolition |
| Size | 250[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | Riotinto |
| Engagements | Spanish Civil War: Military uprising in Seville |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Luis Cordero Bel, Juan Gutiérrez Prieto, Rafael Jurado Chacon |
The Riontinto Mining Column was a grouping of volunteer fighters formed on 18 July 1936 from the Riotinto mining basins of Huelva to transport dynamite to Seville. The plan was for the miners to join a group of republican civil guards and assault guards in La Palma del Condado, so that they could enter Seville together. However, the commander of these guards betrayed his command, joined the nationalists, and on the morning of 19 July, ambushed the mining column in La Pañoleta, on the outskirts of Seville. The guards machine-gunned the miners, blowing up the dynamite, and killing and catching many of them. A military officer broadcast on the radio that they were coming to "blow up the Giralda and the cathedral".[citation needed]
- ^ Gil, p.481