Civil War

When the military uprising of 1936 resulted in the Spanish Civil War, the island of La Palma was resistant to the shock and kept the republican legality until July 25, when the gunboat Canalejas came to the city of Santa Cruz de La Palma.  This time period is known as the Red Week.

During the failed military coup on the island a telegraph message from the coup to the military commander Baltasar Gomez Navarro, who was directing the coup in La Palma, was intercepted.  At that time the government delegate Tomas Yanes Rodriguez of the Republican Left was on the island.

When the news hit the Popular Front there was a general strike and popular militias were formed, but the government delegation did not authorize the seizure of military barracks.  When the gunboat Canalejas arrived the Government decided not to offer any resistance and ordered the demobilization of armed militias, being confidendent that the Government would send reinforcements.  The coup failed and legality was restored throughout the State.
It was during this time that the Communist Jose Miguel Perez is highlighted, and in some municipalities such as Tazacorte communist organizations were very important.
Dictatorship and Democracy
The Civil War was not fought in the Canaries, but La Palma is suffered the consequences.  The post-war period coupled with the economic crisis and brought years of hardship to the island.  With the advent of democracy, the island’s economy, heavily dependent on banana exports, had to diversify into other sectors.  One was tourism, which today constitutes the main engine of the economy.

Due to the lack of imported goods, the island had to base their food on banana production, creating a broad range of products in the same meal from bananas.  After the war the island began gradually developing its economy and infrastructure. Its exports of bananas recovered, and the island began building roads and canals to move water from streams to fields.

The most important work of the era was the construction of the road to the summit, which linked the towns of Santa Cruz de La Palma and Los Llanos de Aridane through a tunnel below the peaks of the island, reducing the duration of travel.  The operation of the airport also began.