Mateu Morral Roca was a Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 anarchist

Anarchism

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

, known for his assassination

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 attempt on the lives of Alfonso XIII of Spain

Alfonso XIII of Spain

Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...

 and his wife Victoria Eugenia (on 31 May 1906, the day the two were married).

The son of a Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 textile merchant, Morral learned several languages, and traveled to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 - where he was exposed to anarchist beliefs. Back in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, he decided to quit the family business, and instead started working as a librarian

Librarian

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

 for Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia was a Spanish Catalan free-thinker and anarchist....

.

In 1906 he went to Madrid and started plotting the regicide

Regicide

The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...

, using a bomb that was concealed in a bouquet and thrown towards the procession from a balcony on Calle Mayor

Main Street

Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...

.
The monarchs escaped the attempt with just spots of blood on the queen's dress, but several bystanders and horses died.

After the attempt, Morral tried to get lost in the crowd (helped by journalist José Nakens), but he was recognized by several people. Hunted down by the authorities, he appeared to be surrendering peacefully. However, he managed to shoot and kill the guard who was taking him to Torrejón de Ardoz prison, and to commit suicide the moment after. For a while, the two bodies were displayed in the town hall.

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia was a Spanish Catalan free-thinker and anarchist....

 and Nakens were tried for conspiracy

Conspiracy (crime)

In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...

 and released a year after the events.

During the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, Calle Mayor was renamed Calle Mateo Morral by the Republican

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

Madrid council.

External links

• Mateo Morral Daily Bleed Calendar May 31