Miguel Primo de Rivera y Urquijo of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder and leader of Falange Española. He attended school with future King Juan Carlos I of Spain. It was in their school years that they became life-long friends. Because of his friendship with then Prince Juan Carlos and his commitment to the restoration of the monarchy after General Franco's death, he lobbyied inside the Francoist institutions, as instructed by the newly proclaimed King, to produce a candidate for Prime Minister, namely Adolfo Suárez, who was prepared to implement democratic reform. He was then tasked with presenting the Political Reform Bill to the Francoist
Miguel Primo de Rivera that the parliament had been brushed aside. As he travelled through Spain, his emotional speeches left no doubt that he was a Spanish patriot. He proposed to keep the dictatorship in place long enough to sweep away the mess created by the politicians. In the meantime, he would use the state to modernize the economy and alleviate the problems of the working class. Primo de Rivera began by appointing a supreme Directory of eight military men, with himself as president. He then decreed martial law and fired civilian politicians in the provinces, replacing them with middle-ranking officers. When members of