Spanish Legion

For other uses, see Legion.

Spanish Legion

Emblem of the Legion
Active	Since September 20, 1920
Country	Spain
Allegiance	Spain
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry and polyvalent (since 2016)
Role	Light infantry–rapid action and polyvalent (since 2016)
Size	5,000 personnel
Garrison	Melilla, Ceuta, Ronda (Málaga) and Viator (Almería)
Notable commanders	José Millán-Astray Terreros Francisco Franco Bahamonde Rafael de Valenzuela y Urzaiz Juan Yagüe Blanco
Nickname	«Bridegrooms of Death»
Patron	Christ of the Good Death (Congregation of Mena, Málaga)
Motto	«Legionarios a luchar, legionarios a morir» (Legionnaires to fight, legionnaires to die), «A mí la Legión» (To me, the Legion)
March	«Tercios heroicos», «La canción del Legionario» and «El novio de la muerte».
Mascot	Goats, kids and rams (depending on the unit).
Engagements	Rif War Revolution of 1934 Spanish Civil War Ifni War Bosnian War Kosovo War Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Anniversaries	September 20
Decorations	Seven collective Laureate Crosses of Saint Ferdinand, 22 collective Military Medals, French Croix de Guerre with gold palm, 22 individual Laureate Crosses and 211 individual Military Medals.

The Spanish Legion, also known simply as the Legion, is an elite military force created in 1920 by the Minister of War José Villalba Riquelme under the name of Tercio of Foreigners, who appointed José Millán Astray as its first lieutenant colonel in order to organize the said Tercio in Ceuta; it is part of the Land Force of the Spanish Army. It currently consists of the tercios «Gran Capitán», 1st of the Legion, and «Duque de Alba», 2nd of the Legion, and of the «Rey Alfonso XIII» Brigade, II of the Legion, a BOP made up in turn of the tercios «Don Juan de Austria», 3rd of the Legion, and «Alejandro Farnesio», 4th of the Legion, plus other maneuver and logistic support units. The brigade is part of the «Castillejos» Division, Light Forces until 2015, while the Tercios «Duque de Alba» and «Gran Capitán» belong to the general commands of Ceuta and Melilla, respectively.

The Legion or Tercio of Foreigners, as it was originally named, was the result of the efforts of the then Infantry major José Millán-Astray. The unfavorable outcome for Spanish arms in the colonial wars of North Africa was also causing unrest in the country. Millán-Astray came to the conclusion that Spain needed a corps of professional soldiers, not conscripts, with a morale and esprit de corps comparable to those of the French Foreign Legion. The Legion is the culmination of that personal project.

After its intervention in Morocco and in the suppression of the bloody coup d'état organized by the PSOE and ERC against the Second Republic in 1934, the Legion took part alongside the insurgent side (with General Franco) in the Spanish Civil War. It later intervened in the Ifni War of 1957–1958 and in the crisis over the decolonization of the Spanish Sahara (1972–1975).

After a major restructuring in the 1990s, it has since carried out several international peacekeeping missions in different areas of the world such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo and Lebanon.

History

Foundation

The Legion was created by the Royal Decree of January 28, 1920, by the Minister of War José Villalba Riquelme, under the name «Tercio of Foreigners». The aim was to cope, as France had already done, with the harshness of the fighting in the Rif War (Morocco), for which the conscript troops were not prepared, as well as to reduce the popular outcry over the casualties suffered. Nevertheless, the official founding date is considered to be that of the enlistment of the first legionnaire, a thirty-two-year-old man named Carlos Espresati de la Vega, a native of San Roque (Cádiz), on September 20, 1920.

Its first base was Position A in Ceuta, located on a hill from which the entire Strait of Gibraltar is controlled, and which the Spanish army began to occupy in 1860. The first expedition of legionnaires occupied the barracks at the end of 1920, remaining there until 2008.

File:Millan.jpeg

José Millán-Astray, ideologue of the Legion, in an image from c. 1900.

Its first commander was the infantry lieutenant colonel José Millán-Astray, who, after his experience in the Philippines in command of native Tagalogs and in Morocco in command of the indigenous Regulares, and having transferred from his previous post in the Príncipe Regiment No. 3 (successor of the Tercio of Lombardy), would give the new force its peculiar style and mystique. This unit comprised Spaniards and foreigners who voluntarily enlisted to fight in Morocco. Initially, the Tercio consisted of a command and administrative headquarters staff and four Banderas (a unit equivalent to a battalion). Each Bandera consisted of a Headquarters company, three companies of riflemen and another of machine guns.

The then Major Francisco Franco was the head of the First Bandera and second-in-command to Millán-Astray, Major Fernando Cirugeda Gayoso was the head of the Second Bandera and Major José Candeira Sestelo that of the Third Bandera. The following heads of the "Tercio of Foreigners" were Lieutenant Colonels Valenzuela (1922–1923), Franco (1923–1935, later as colonel) and again Colonel Millán Astray.

Rif War

Coat of arms of the "Rey Alfonso XIII" Brigade, II of the Legion.

First version of the coat of arms used as an infantry unit.

Second version of the coat of arms as an infantry unit.

Model in force since 2016, with attributes proper to a BOP.

Coat of arms of the Tercio "Gran Capitán", First of the Legion.

Coat of arms of the Tercio "Duque de Alba", Second of the Legion.

Coat of arms of the Tercio "Juan de Austria", Third of the Legion.

Coat of arms of the Tercio "Alejandro Farnesio", Fourth of the Legion.

Main article: Rif War

The «Tercio of Foreigners», which from 1925 was called the «Tercio of Morocco», later «the Tercio» and finally «the Legion» (the name that has lasted to the present day), took part in the Rif War from its foundation in 1920 until the war's end in 1927, the most notable action in that period being the one known as the «Alhucemas landing».

The Rif War saw legionnaires killed in combat for the first time, Baltasar Queija Vega (1900–1921) being the first legionnaire to fall; a native of Riotinto, he is known for having inspired Fidel Prado's composition "el novio de la muerte". Among the hundreds of legionnaires who fell in the Rif War are Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Valenzuela Urzaiz (1881–1923), head of the Tercio from 1922 to 1923, and the first legionnaire, Carlos Espresati de la Vega (1888–1925).

At the beginning of the Second Republic, the Cortes approved the reform of the Army (also known as the Azaña Law), which offered transfer to the second reserve—practically retirement—to any officer who requested it within less than thirty days. Likewise, the end of the colonial war in Morocco made it possible to reduce the Legion's personnel. Later, in 1934, it was sent, together with the Regulares, to put down the rebellions against the Second Republic in the Revolution of Asturias.

Civil War, Ifni War and Sahara War

Spanish Civil War

Main article: Spanish Civil War

It also took part in the Civil War, between 1936 and 1939, a period in which it reached its maximum strength, with 18 Banderas (a battalion-type unit). Its participation alongside the troops of the indigenous Regulares was very important (both units constituted the most combative core of the seasoned Army of Africa), and its participation was decisive for the victory of the insurgent side. In 1943 names were given to the three Tercios the Legion then had:

• Tercio Gran Capitán, headquartered in Tahuima (Melilla area)
• Tercio Duque de Alba, headquartered in Dar-Riffien (Ceuta area)
• Tercio Don Juan de Austria, headquartered in Krimda (Larache)

In 1950, under the name Tercio Alejandro Farnesio, the fourth Tercio was created in Villa Sanjurjo, present-day Alhucemas.

In 1956, Spain granted Morocco independence by virtue of the Rabat Agreement, although the territories of Ifni and Western Sahara remained Spanish. To confront the Moroccan armed bands and reinforce the garrison stationed there, the I Parachute Bandera arrived in Ifni and the XIII Bandera of the Legion arrived in the Spanish Sahara; the latter, made up of one company from each tercio, landed on the beach of Huisi Aotman and moved on foot to El Aaiún, capital of the Sahara, on July 1, 1956.

Ifni-Sahara War

Main article: Ifni War

In June 1957, the presence of the Legion was increased, with the IV Bandera deployed in Villa Cisneros. In November 1957, the two capitals, Sidi Ifni and El Aaiún, were attacked, and operations were immediately planned and carried out to relieve the besieged posts and to control the attackers. To this end, the II Bandera landed in Villa Bens; the VI Bandera in El Aaiún; and the IX Bandera in Villa Cisneros.

On January 13, 1958, as the XIII Bandera was heading to Edchera on a reconnaissance mission, it was surprised by the enemy, and a combat ensued in the course of which a Section was surrounded; in the attempt to rescue it, more than 20 casualties were suffered, among them Brigada Caballero Legionario Francisco Fadrique Castromonte and Caballero Legionario Juan Maderal Oleaga, the last recipients of the Laureate Cross in the Legion and the Spanish Army.

On January 14, 1958, the territory of Ifni had become a Spanish province. Hostilities lasted until June 30, and in that interval the Spanish troops, either alone in Ifni or in collaboration with French units in the Sahara, succeeded in defeating the insurgent bands.

Once hostilities ended, in August 1958, the Banderas of the Legion sent to the Sahara contributed the men and the experience acquired to form the Saharan Tercios «Don Juan de Austria» and «Alejandro Farnesio», III and IV of the Legion, respectively, each composed of two Banderas, a Light Armored Cavalry Group (later the Saharan Light Group from 1966) and a Transported Artillery Battery.

In February 1961, as a consequence of the handover of the Protectorate, their withdrawal was completed, the last units to carry it out being the 1st Tercio «Gran Capitán» and the 2nd «Duque de Alba», to Melilla and Ceuta, respectively. In June 1969, Ifni was peacefully handed over to Morocco by means of a treaty signed in Fez, and the XIII Bandera, which had been transferred to this territory in August 1958, was disbanded.

Green March

Main article: Green March

In the early 1970s, the winds of decolonization in Africa reached the Spanish Sahara. On May 20, 1973, the first attack by the Polisario Front took place: an assault on the territorial police post at the Well of Janquel Quesat. The increase in these hostile actions and Morocco's threat to occupy the Sahara mobilized the Legion, which not only had to protect the border against possible aggression from Morocco, but was also subjected to insecurity in its rear from the actions of the Polisario.

From August 21, 1974, units of the 4th Tercio were sent to the northern sector of the Sahara, and on December 18 the combat of Tifariti took place, in which Sergeant Caballero Legionario José Carazo Orellana was killed. The pre-war tension continued, and on August 2, 1975, the FLU attacked the Hausa post, killing Corporal First Class Caballero Legionario Paracaidista Joaquín Ibarz Catalán.

The international isolation Spain encountered in resolving the conflict, for which it sought and defended the self-determination of its inhabitants, and the delicate internal moment it was going through given the precarious state of health of the head of State, General Franco, were exploited by Morocco to organize the Green March.

Legionnaires carrying the Christ of the Good Death (Congregation of Mena) of Málaga on their shoulders.

On November 6, 1975, the Green March cut through the wire fences and crossed the border, its advance being monitored by the Legion's Cavalry. Some 50,000 Moroccan civilians stopped in front of the minefields and defensive positions located 10 km inland from the border. The situation forced the Government of Spain to enter into negotiations that ended with the agreement to divide the administration of the Spanish Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania.

The roughly 5,000 legionnaires deployed in the Sahara supported the complicated evacuation and left the territory, having to hand over their barracks to the Moroccan and Mauritanian forces.

On November 27, the VII Bandera handed over Smara. On December 11, the VIII Bandera and GLS I left Sidi Buya. The IX and X Banderas abandoned the large barracks of Villa Cisneros on the 16th of the same month. Only the two Saharan Light Groups remained in the Sahara, and they withdrew: the 1st Saharan Light Group on January 4 and the 2nd Light Group on the 11th from Villa Cisneros (the latter being the last Spanish military unit to leave the Spanish province of the Sahara).

In 1975, with the Spanish abandonment of the Sahara, the 3rd Tercio went on to form the garrison of the island of Fuerteventura, while the 1st and 2nd remained in Melilla and Ceuta, respectively. After the withdrawal, problems of adaptation, frustration and depression arose at a time when there was no such thing as sick leave for psychological reasons. Legionnaires were involved in numerous crimes on the island and even in the hijacking of two aircraft, in August 1979 and June 1982. Such was the situation that the Cabildo of Fuerteventura went so far as to request the disbandment of the Legion, after the murder of three tourists.

The 4th Tercio was deactivated, but in 1981 it was re-created, being garrisoned in Ronda (Málaga).

The Legion's goat waiting to parade on the National Day of Spain, in Madrid in 2015.

Changes and peace missions

Around 1985 the continuity of the unit was in danger; it was finally maintained at the cost of undergoing major changes in its form of recruitment, and the elimination of singular aspects of the Corps, such as the disappearance of its Legionary Non-Commissioned Officer Scale.

In 1995 the Light Infantry Brigade Rey Alfonso XIII II of the Legion was created, in the facilities of the defunct Motorized Infantry Brigade XXIII, headquartered in Viator (Almería).

After a period in which the recruitment of foreigners was prohibited, the admission of Hispanic American and Equatorial Guinean soldiers began, as in other units of the Army. From the 1990s onward, the Legion has taken part in various peace missions of the UN, NATO, the OSCE and the European Union in different conflict zones:

The first women joined the Legion in 1990, in the medical corps, the first of them being María del Pilar Hernández Frutos, Lieutenant Colonel of the Army's Medical Brigade in 2020. In 2009 there were 265 female legionnaires. In 2012, 9% of legionnaires were women, many of them in combat units, though not combat posts, with participation in missions abroad. In 2020, of the 5,000 soldiers on active duty, 279 were women.

• 1992: Bosnia and Herzegovina: 926 men integrated into UNPROFOR.
• 1993: Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1,063 soldiers in the UN contingent.
• 1996: Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1,003 legionnaires on a NATO mission.
• 1997: Albania: 325 soldiers in the OSCE's Operation Dawn.
• 1999: Kosovo (Yugoslavia): 727 men on a NATO mission.
• 2000: Kosovo, Yugoslavia: 228 men on a NATO mission.
• 2001: Kosovo, Yugoslavia: 770 men on a NATO mission.
• 2001: Macedonia: 125 men in Operation Essential Harvest.
• 2003: Iraq: 360 legionnaires in a multinational force.
• 2004: Iraq: 768 men in a multinational division.
• 2005: Bosnia and Herzegovina: 167 men on an EUFOR mission.
• 2006: Afghanistan: 276 men on a NATO mission.
• 2006: Democratic Republic of the Congo: 130 men on an EUFOR mission.
• 2006: Lebanon: 824 men on a NATO pacification mission in the UNIFIL contingent.
• 2008: Afghanistan, on a NATO mission.
• 2008: Lebanon, in the UN's UNIFIL contingent.
• 2010: Afghanistan, maneuver battalion Task Force Badghis.

Combat equipment

A soldier's equipment basically consists of a uniform adapted to the environment and boots. For the combatant's protection in case of attack, he wears a bulletproof vest and a helmet. Normally, the soldier carries 4 to 5 magazines and is equipped with the German H&K G36E rifle, as well as field cutlery, a knife, 2 hand grenades, camouflage netting, a flashlight, a canteen and mess tin, a compass, a first-aid kit, a 9 mm USP pistol and 2 magazines (in some cases), communication equipment, and AN/PVS-14 night-vision goggles. In the combat backpack a soldier must always carry food rations, another canteen, a waterproof poncho, an American blanket and 1 change of underwear.

Members of the Spanish Legion parading on October 12, 2021.

The 7th Bandera Valenzuela of the Tercio Don Juan de Austria of the BRILEG in the parade of July 14, 2007, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Legionnaires of the 4th Tercio «Alejandro Farnesio» in the town of Alquife (Granada).

Guidons and pennants of the Legion at a ceremony in tribute to the fallen.

Legionnaires of the Artillery Group firing a light gun.

Units of the Legion

Independent units

• Tercio «Gran Capitán», 1st of the Legion, belonging to the General Command of Melilla.
  • Protected Infantry Bandera «España» I/1
  • Anti-Tank Defense Company
• Tercio «Duque de Alba», 2nd of the Legion, belonging to the General Command of Ceuta.
  • Protected Infantry Bandera «Cristo de Lepanto» IV/2
  • Anti-Tank Defense Company
• XIX Special Operations Bandera of the Legion «Caballero Legionario Maderal Oleaga».

Polyvalent Organic Brigade «Rey Alfonso XIII», II of the Legion

Main article: Brigade «Rey Alfonso XIII» II of the Legion

• Headquarters.
• Headquarters Bandera II.
  • Anti-Tank Defense Company.
  • Signals Company.
  • Intelligence Unit.
  • Music Unit of the Legion.
• Tercio «Don Juan de Austria», 3rd of the Legion.
  • Protected Infantry Bandera "Valenzuela" VII/3.
  • Protected Infantry Bandera "Colón" VIII/3.
• Tercio «Alejandro Farnesio», 4th of the Legion.
  • Motorized Infantry Bandera "Millán Astray" X/4.
• Light Armored Cavalry Group «Reyes Católicos» II of the Legion.
• Field Artillery Group II of the Legion.
• Sapper Bandera II of the Legion.
• Logistics Group II of the Legion.

Disbanded Banderas

• II Bandera of the Legion «Carlos V/I», belonged to the First Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 2009.
• III Bandera of the Legion «Tigres de Buharrat», belonged to the First Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1985 under the META plan.
• V Bandera of the Legion «Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba», belonged to the Second Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 2007.
• VI Bandera of the Legion «Duque de Alba», belonged to the Second Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1985 under the META plan.
• IX Bandera of the Legion «General Franco», belonged to the Third Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1994.
• XI Bandera of the Legion «Comandante Tiede», belonged to the Fourth Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1958.
• XII Bandera of the Legion «Cabo Suceso Terrero», belonged to the Fourth Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1958.
• XIII Bandera of the Legion «General Mola». It belonged to the Second Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939. Reorganized in 1956 as the "XIII Independent Bandera of the A.O.E.", belonging administratively to the Third Tercio until it was disbanded again in 1958. Reorganized once more in 1981, it belonged to the Fourth Tercio until its disbandment in 1985.
• XIV Bandera of the Legion «Ciudad de Badajoz». It belonged to the First Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939.
• XV Bandera of the Legion «Reino de Aragón». It belonged to the Second Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939.
• XVI Bandera of the Legion «Capitán Arredondo». It belonged to the First Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939.
• XVII Bandera of the Legion «Coronel Yagüe». It belonged to the Second Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939.
• XVIII Bandera of the Legion «Nuestra Señora de África». It belonged to the First Tercio of the Legion until its disbandment in 1939.

Ideals

Since its origins, the Legion has always promoted a cult of combat and a diminishing of the importance of death. The aim of this is to minimize the natural fear of dying, encouraging the heroic acts necessary for its initial mission as professional shock troops. A large part of that objective is achieved through the indoctrination of the troops, which includes the so-called «legionary mystique», definitively symbolized in the Legionary Creed.

Some of its identifying mottos since its beginnings, still used today, are «¡Viva España!, ¡Viva el Rey!, ¡Viva la Legión!» (Long live Spain! Long live the King! Long live the Legion!), «¡A mí la Legión!» (To me, the Legion!) and «¡Legionarios a luchar, legionarios a morir!» (Legionnaires to fight, legionnaires to die!).

Names

• Tercio of Foreigners (1920–1925).
• Tercio of Morocco (1925).
• The Tercio (1925–1937).
• The Legion (1937–present).

Participation

• War of Morocco.
• Revolution of 1934 in Asturias.
• Spanish Civil War, in 1936–1939.
• Ifni War, in 1957–1958.
• Yugoslav Wars.
• Iraq War.
• War in Afghanistan.

Commanders

• José Millán-Astray y Terreros
• Rafael Valenzuela Urzáiz
• Francisco Franco Bahamonde
• Fernando Manuel Rodríguez Volta
• Eugenio Sanz de Larín
• Juan José de Liniers y Muguiro
• Juan Mateo y Pérez de Alejo
• Luis Molina Galano
• Juan Yagüe Blanco
• Rafael Iglesias Curty
• Alberto Serrano Montaner
• Rafael López-Doriga Blanco
• Ángel Ramírez de Cartagena y Marcaida
• José Mouslera González-Burgos
• Rafael Martínez-Anido Baldrich
• Rafael López-Doriga Blanco
• Nicasio Joaquín Montero García
• Timoteo Ortega López
• Julio de la Torre Galán
• Antonio Macía Serrano
• Enrique Arias Bañón
• José Giménez Henríquez
• Tomas Pallás Sierra
• Hipólito Fernández-Palacios y Núñez
• Ponciano Fernández Fernández
• José Manuel Frasquet Barber
• Fermín Galán Rodríguez
• Rafael Reig de la Vega
• Carlos Gabari Lebrón
• Francisco Javier Zorzo Ferrer
• Enrique Gomariz de Robles
• Rafael Dávila Álvarez
• José Manuel Muñoz Muñoz
• Julián Díaz López
• Francisco Javier Varela Salas
• Juan Jesús Leza Benito
• Juan Jesús Martín Cabrero
• Marcos Llago Navarro

• Melchor Marín Elvira
• Benjamin Domínguez Ran

Ranks and insignia

Officers

NATO code	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Spain
	Major General	Brigadier General	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant (Alférez)

Non-commissioned officers and enlisted

NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4		OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Spain
	Sergeant Major (Suboficial Mayor)			Warrant Officer (Subteniente)			Brigada		Sergeant First Class		Sergeant						Corporal Major						Corporal First Class		Corporal		Caballero Legionario de Primera						Caballero Legionario

Musicians

NATO code	OR-1
of Spain Spain
	Drum and Bugle Band

Museums

• Military Museum of the Legion: created in 1940 and installed in the barracks of the 2nd Tercio of the Legion in Dar-Riffien in Castillejos (Spanish Protectorate in Morocco). In 1956, after the independence of Morocco, the Tercio moved, and with it the Museum, to Ceuta, specifically to the Cuartel del Rey (King's Barracks). In 1978 it was finally located in its current building on the Paseo de Colón, built exclusively for that purpose.
• Museum Collection of the Legion in Almería: Inaugurated in 1997, it occupies more than 1,000 m² in the Álvarez de Sotomayor Base in Viator.

Legionary Creed

The Legionary Creed consists of a list of twelve maxims written by José Millán-Astray, founder of the Spanish Legion, shortly after the creation of the unit in 1920. Millán Astray's intention was to set down in simple sentences what he defined as the spiritual foundation of the Legion, thus helping to shape it, and every Caballero Legionario was to know the creed by heart and apply it in all aspects of his life.

History of the text

Created on January 28, 1920, and although it had already taken part in military actions, the Legion did not begin to be known among the Spanish public until its hasty transfer to the aid of Melilla after the Disaster of Annual. In 1923, with the unit already fully established and needing to maintain the initial flow of recruits, as well as seeking to increase publicity about it, the then Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray wrote and published a book entitled La Legión, in which the first known form of the Creed appears publicly. Nevertheless, the Creed had existed practically since the founding of the unit, and was taught to the troops with as much insistence and tenacity as if it were a new catechism.

The text of the Legionary Creed remained unchanged throughout the years of the Legion's existence, except for one detail of the 11th spirit: the original edition published by Millán Astray read La Bandera de La Legión será la más gloriosa [...] (The Flag of the Legion will be the most glorious [...]). The future tense was changed to its current wording, in the present tense, at a grand ceremony following the presentation of the first national flag to the Legion on October 5, 1927, by the then Queen Victoria Eugenia, since it was considered that the Legion's casualties up to that date made it deserving of such a modification.

In the 1980s, when the continuity of the Legion was being questioned, the Ministry of Defense of Spain promoted a new wording of the Creed, considering the traditional one to be anachronistic and politically incorrect, although it did not prosper.

See also

• Spanish Armed Forces
• War of Africa
• Rif War
• Spanish Army of Africa
• Brigade «Rey Alfonso XIII» II of the Legion
• Legionary Creed

Bibliography

• Ballenilla y García de Gamarra, Miguel. La Legión. 1920–1927. Editorial Fajardo el Bravo, ISBN 978-84-935592-8-1.
• Casteleiro Villalba, Luis (March 2019). Del Tercio de Extranjeros a la Legión: Sus Principales Protagonistas. Madrid: GALLAND BOOKS. ISBN 978-84-162009-3-1
• Cid Lucas, Fernando. "El inglés que vino de `Londón´: los plausibles hechos históricos escondidos tras una canción legionaria", Ejército: de tierra español, No. 943 (November), 2019, pp. 50–54. ISSN 1696-7178.
• Morales, Gustavo and Togores, Luis (2020). Cien años de la Legión española. Madrid: La esfera de los libros. ISBN 978-84-916489-1-8.

External links

• La Legión Española — unofficial website
• Amigos de la Legión Española — unofficial website
• Fundación Tercio de Extranjeros — unofficial website
• Photographs of the Spanish Legion.