Primo de Rivera’s resignation on January 28, 1930, marked the collapse of a dictatorship established through a military coup and weakened by economic decline and the withdrawal of royal and military backing. The episode links a promise to restore democratic rule to the failure of the regime to retain the support on which its authority depended.

Coup and Promise of Restoration

On September 13, 1923, Captain General Miguel Primo de Rivera led a military coup in Barcelona, overthrew the government, and established himself as dictator. He presented the dictatorship as a temporary response to political and economic problems, corruption, and disorder, claiming that democratic rule would be restored once those problems had been overcome. Much of the public supported him, and King Alfonso appointed him prime minister.

That initial support gave the regime a basis for claiming public legitimacy, but its promise of a return to democracy remained conditional on its success in restoring order and resolving the country's problems. The later loss of support from both the king and the army exposed the fragility of that arrangement.

Economic Decline and Loss of Support

By the end of the 1920s, the economic boom in Spain had ended as the Great Depression began. The account identifies a poor harvest in 1929 and rampant inflation as features of the downturn. Many blamed government spending on public-works projects for worsening economic conditions.

The evidence connects this deteriorating climate with Primo de Rivera's political isolation: he lost the support of the king and the army before resigning. It does not describe a single decisive confrontation or a specific act that directly forced his departure; instead, it presents the resignation as the endpoint of a regime whose political backing had eroded amid economic trouble.

Resignation and Aftermath

Primo de Rivera resigned on January 28, 1930. His departure did not restore the monarchy's stability. The king subsequently lost the support of the army and abdicated on April 14, 1931; the Second Spanish Republic followed.

The historical note also traces later developments in Primo de Rivera's family and Spain's politics: two years after the abdication, his eldest son, José Antonio, founded the Falange. Both of Primo de Rivera's sons were imprisoned and executed when the Spanish Civil War began in July 1936, and Franco's Nationalists won the war and established a fascist regime. These later events extend the note's political chronology beyond the resignation itself; they are not presented as consequences directly caused by it.