The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Spain (numbers may be approximate):
Ancient history
Germanic Kingdoms
Reconquista
NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesDay of the Ditch [es]797 or 807Toledo400 - 700Emirate of Córdoba700 city notables massacred in a special ditch by Muslim army under Amrus ibn YusufMartyrs of Córdoba851Cordoba48Emirate of CórdobaForty-eight Christians executed by MuslimsCordoba massacre1013Cordoba2,000BerbersInvading soldiers under Sulayman ibn al-Hakam sacked and pillaged the city resulting in the deaths of many people and Jews.1066 Granada massacre30 December 1066Granada4,000Granada by Richard Gottheil, Meyer Kayserling, Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906 ed.Muslim mobMuslim mobs massacred JewsToledo massacre7 May 1355Toledo1,200Henry of TrastámaraHenry of Trastámara leads forces that kill 1,200 Jews in ToledoSeville massacre6 June 1391Seville4,000Christian mobMob kills 4,000 Jews.Córdoba massacreJune 1391Cordoba2,000Christian mobMob kills 2,000 Jews.
Habsburg Spain
NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesPortuguese invasion of Couto Misto1517–1518Couto MistoUnknownPortuguese forcesPortuguese forces led by Antonio de Araújo, attacked the village of Pena in the region of Couto Misto, killing all the menGalera massacre10 February 1570Galera2,500Spanish ArmySpanish Army under John of Austria massacres 2,500 Moriscos.Corpus de Sang7–10 June 1640Barcelona12–20Catalan peasantsBetween 12 and 20 royal officials, including the Viceroy of Catalonia, were killed by the rioters. The massacre was one of the first events of the Reapers' War.Battle of Cambrils13–16 December 1640Cambrils, Principality of Catalonia700Spanish ArmyMassacre of 700 defenders tried to surrender by Spanish Army
Bourbon Spain (1701–1808)
NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesMonte Argintzo massacre10 July 1794Monte Argintzo, Baztan Valley49Republican FrenchAfter the battle, the Republican French massacred 49 French Royalist prisoners
Independence War, Kingdom of Spain and First Republic (1808–1875) NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesDos de Mayo Uprising3 May 1808Madrid113Grande ArméeFrench Army under Joachim Murat executed 113 Spanish rebelsValencia massacre5 to 6 June 1808Valencia400Baltasar Calvo and his followersMassacre of French civilians by anti-French mob led by Baltasar CalvoSiege of Badajoz (1812)6 April 1812Badajoz200–300Anglo-Portuguese ArmyMarauding troops from the Anglo-Portuguese Army under the command of Earl of Wellington kill between 200 and 300 Spanish civilians after capturing the cityThere are sources that put the civilian casualty rate as high as 4,000, but recent research shows this estimate to be highly inflated.San Sebastián sack8 September 1813San Sebastián1,000Anglo-Portuguese Army After besieging San Sebastián, Allied British and Portuguese soldiers rampaged out of control through San Sebastián, abusing and murdering many of its civilian inhabitants and setting fire to many of the city's buildings. killing an unknown number of inhabitants but they may amount to 1,000San Andrés beach mass execution11 December 1831Málaga49Spanish Army49 Liberal rebels, including their leader José María de Torrijos y Uriarte, were executed extrajudicially by firing squad.Massacre of Heredia17 March 1834Heredia118CarlistsCarlists execute 118 Liberal prisoners of war. The massacre was ordered by general Tomás de Zumalacárregui.1834 massacre of friars in Madrid17 July 1834Madrid73Anti-clerical liberalsMobs assaulted and burned convents in the capital after a rumor spread that the friars had poisoned the water to favor the Carlist offensive. 73 friars were killed and 11 were injured.Garzón, J. S. P. (1997). Curas y liberales en la revolución burguesa. Ayer, (27), 67-100.Baroja, J. C. (2008). Historia del anticlericalismo español. Caro Raggio.Prada, A. M. (2018).El anticlericalismo popular durante el bienio 1834-1835. Hispania sacra, 49(100), 497-541.1835 Anti-clerical riotsSummer 1835Aragón and Catalonia78Anti-clerical liberalsMobs assaulted and burned monasteries, killing 70 friars and 8 priests. The most important mutinies happened in Reus, Barcelona and Zaragoza.Burjassot massacre29 March 1837Burjassot40 (around)CarlistsCarlists execute governmental POWs, mostly cadets, reportedly amidst festivious celebrations, wining and diningearlier prints, mostly by Nakens, claimed around 50 killed and provided various details. Present-day accounts are more cautious, see e.g. "mas de treinta" executed, Luis Manuel Expósito Navarro, Historia de Burjassot, [in:] Centre d'Estudis Locals de Burjassot 2018, p. 17Battle of Andoain14 September 1837Andoain60CarlistsCarlists permit the crowd to lynch 60 British Auxiliary Legion prisoners of war - [no specific name]winter 1837/1838Beceite1,000 (not clear) Carlistsfollowing a few victorious battles in Aragon, Catalonia and Levante, Carlists gathered some 1,500 POWs. In November they were marched and incarcerated in the castle and other buildings in Beceite. As winter, usually harsh in this mountainous area, set in, prisoners were mostly neglected. Due to cold, sickness, hunger and mistreatment, there were some 10 POWs dying daily. There were cases of cannibalism.even approximate number of casualties is anyone's guess. It certainly went into hundreds. First account in Jose Nakens, Los crimenes del carlismo, vol. 3, Madrid 1876, pp. 5-9. For present-day account see e.g. Jose Antonio Benavente, Atrocidades y canibalismo durante la Primera Guerra Carlista en Beceite (Teruel), [in:] Historias del Bajo Aragon 19.02.2013Calzada massacre27 February 1838Calzada de Calatrava150 (around)Carlistsduring combat for the city, at one point Liberal defenders (some with women and children) barricaded themselves in the Santa María del Valle church and rejected calls to give up. The Carlists brought artillery and started pounding the building. Anyone trying to flee or surrender was killed, the rest died in ruins of the burning and demolished church.it is not clear how many deaths can be attributed to combat, and how many resulted from killing those surrendering. Julio Criado, Asalto e incendio de la iglesia parroquial de Calzada de Calatrava, [in:] Oretania 18.02.2021, see also account by contemporary newspaper La IberiaMassacre of Guimerà19 September 1837Guimerà71liberalsgovernmental troops execute Carlist POWsMarc Pons, Los liberales fusilan a 71 carlistas en Guimerà, [in:] El Nacional 18.09.2021Bombardment of Barcelona (1842)3 December 1842Barcelona20–30Spanish ArmyThe bombardment was ordered personally by general Baldomero Espartero to end a revolt that started the previous month and had forced the army to take refuge in Montjuic Castle and Parc de la Ciutadella. The indiscriminate artillery bombardment of the city was made from Montjuïc, killing between 20 and 30 people.Bahamonde, A.; Martínez, J. A. (2011). Historia de España. Siglo XIX (6ª edición). Madrid: Cátedra. . Page 236.Fontana, J., & Villares, R. (2007). La época del liberalismo. Barcelona: Crítica. Page 193.Martyrs of Carral26 April 1846Carral12Spanish Army12 rebel leaders of the failed 1846 revolution were executed extrajudicially.Beramendi, J. G. (2007). De provincia a nación: historia do galeguismo político. Xerais De Galicia Edicions.Villares, R. (2016). Historia de Galicia. Editorial Galaxia.Night of San Daniel10 April 1865Madrid14Guardia CivilVarious units of the Spanish ArmyThe Guardia Civil and Spanish Army brutally repressed a group of students of the Central University of Madrid that were protesting in support of the rector of said university. 14 students were killed and 193 were injured.Fontana, Josep (2007). La época del liberalismo. Vol. 6 de la Historia de España, dirigida por Josep Fontana y Ramón Villares. Barcelona: Crítica/Marcial Pons. .Leal, G. G. C. (2001). Madrid: de la noche de San Daniel al Cuartel de San Gil. Revista de historia militar, (90), 107-186.Berga massacre27 March 1873Berga67Carlistsonce the city has been captured, the formally commanding Alfonso Carlos pledged to respect lives of all POWs. However, once he left the city, the de facto commander Francisco Savalls ordered executionsLluís Miró i Solà, Savalls; realidad y leyend a, [in:] SegleDiNou 10.09.2019Enderlaza massacre4 June 1873Enderlaza34Carlistsfollowing a few hours of Carlist siege of the Carabineros outpost at the border between Navarre and Gipuzkoa, the latter surrendered. The Carlist commander, Manuel Santa Cruz, claiming that defenders had earlier micheviously displayed white flags, ordered execution of all POWs Cirauqui massacre12 July 1874Cirauqui36Carlistsfollowing a few hours of combat for the town, eventually 62 liberal defenders, isolated in the church, surrendered. When leaving the building they were assaulted by the crowd, with apparently passive or perhaps even permissive attitude of Carlist commanders. During the carnage, 36 defenders have been lynched, mostly with canes or agricultural tools/Ángel García-Sanz Marcotegui, Lugares de memoria liberal de la última guerra carlista en Navarra. Su presencia en el callejero de Pamplona (1873-1937), [in] Historia contemporánea 28 (2004), p. 400Massacre of Olot15-30 July 1874Olot 100 (unclear)Carlistshaving defeated liberal troops during the battle of Toix, Carlists then executed some 35 POWs. As the result of the battle, Olot surrendered without a fight. During some 2 weeks, Carlists kept killing officers, NCOs, customs officials and other functionariesexact number of casualties is unclear. Nakens claimed 33 executed after the battle and 193 killed in Olot, Jose Nakens, Los crimenes del carlismo, vol. 2, Madrid 1876, p. 6. Official list, prepared for the Cortes in 1912, lists 31 casualties, see El Motin 28.11.1912. Present-day historiography is also very cautious, see Juli Clavijo i Ledesma, 1874: apogeu i decadència del carlisme a Catalunya, [in:] Annals del Patronat d'Estudis Històrics d'Olot i Comarca 26 (2015), pp. 75-107. However, some private sites claim 116 killed, Los prisioneros fusilados de la batalla de Toix II, San Juan de las Abadesas, [in:] Associacio Palimpsest 10.08.2018 Looting of Cuenca15/16 July 1874Cuenca40 (around)Carlistsfollowing earlier siege of the city, which lasted some 3 days, Carlist troops overpowered the defenders. During the following 2 days the victorious troops turned into pillaging gangs, killing POWs and looting the city. Earlier prints claimed 700 fatalities, yet there are some 40 fatal victims identified. "Saco de Cuenca" became the icon of Carlist barbarity, present in public narrative for some 50 years to come
Restoration (1875–1931)