History
Spain On This Day - March 23
By m.p. - Mar 23, 2008 - 7:45 AM
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Saint’s Day for Fidel, Félix and Rebeca.
1748: an earthquake in Montesa, Valencia, destroys the castle and kills 18 people.
1766: an uprising known as the Mutiny of Esquilache starts in Madrid against the policies of Carlos III’s Secretary for Taxes, the Marqués of Esquilache.
1808: Napoleon’s brother-in-law, General Joachím Murat, enters Madrid and occupies the city, in the run-up to the Spanish War of Independence.
1860: the last great battle of the African War between Spain and Morocco takes place at Wad-Ras, with a victory for Spain.
Noted births on this day in history include Fernando Hierro, the former Spain and Real Madrid defender, who was born in Vélez Málaga, Málaga province, in 1968.
Francisco Largo Caballero, President of the government in the Second Spanish Republic, and one of the historic leaders of PSOE and the UGT union, died on this day in 1946 in exile in Paris, after spending much of World War II in a Nazi concentration camp.
The Basque film director, Eloy de la Iglesia, died on this day in 2006 after complications set in following surgery for renal cancer.