The Spanish Second Republic and the Organic Statute of the Spanish Territories of the Gulf of Guinea, 1931-1936

Abstract

In August 1931, during the presentation of the project of the Spanish republican constitution, Sánchez Albornoz said: “[…] we are before a constitution that seeks to maintain a balance between reality and deal, between the past and the future, those two forces eternally in collision through the time and the space”. The colonial legal reforms approved by the Spanish Second Republic were a good reflection of those Albonoz’s words. The colonialism was the affirmation of inequality between people, it was the denial of the freedom of peoples. But, unfortunately, by 1931, its resignation was unthinkable, not only by the Spanish Republic, but also by the rest of the colonial states.  The aim of this review, is to surline how that clash between republican ideals and those of colonialism, “a past” and “a reality” assumed by the young spanish democracy, was reflected in the colonial reforms approved by the new Spanish government. This work is focus on the decree of 22 of July 1931, which approved the new Organic Statute for Spanish Guinea.

Fecha de envío / Submission date: 9/12/2020

Fecha de aceptación / Acceptance date: 15/02/2021