Requeté

The Requeté (rekeˈte; Requetè, Errekete) was a Carlist organization, at times with paramilitary units, that operated between the mid-1900s and the early 1970s, though exact dates are not clear. The Requeté formula differed over the decades, and according to its changes the history of the movement falls into several phases: 1) heterogeneous youth organisation (mid-1900s till mid-1910s); 2) urban street-fighting squads (mid-1910s till early 1920s); 3) dormant structure with no particular direction (early 1920s till early 1930s); 4) paramilitary party militia (1931–1936); 5) army shock units (1936–1939); 6) party branch in-between youth and ex-combatant organisation (1940s–1950s); 7) internal "order of the faithful" (1960s). The Requeté played a major role in Spanish history in early months of the Civil War, when its units were critical for ensuring Nationalist advantage on some key frontline sections. It is not clear whether there is any Requeté network operational today. Apart from academic associations, until the end of the 19th century there were no youth organisations in Spain. They started to emerge in the early 1900s as branches of various political movements; in 1903, a first youth socialist group appeared in Bilbao and in 1906 Federación de Juventudes Socialistas staged its national congress. In 1904 the Basque nationalists set up Juventud Vasca. The same year in Barcelona the radical republicans founded Juventud Republicana, operating under a colloquial name of "jóvenes bárbaros"; in 1911 they formed Federación de Juventudes Radicales. In the early 1910s youth conservative Maurista groups started to emerge. At that time also non-political organizations began to appear; the first Boy Scouts group was recorded in 1911, in its Catalanized version as "Exploradores de Barcelona" born in 1912. Though in the early 20th century there were already various sporting, tourist, or other leisure associations operational in Spain, they were oriented towards young adult males and were not specifically intended to group minors.