José Antonio Primo de Rivera of one-party rule Falange preferred the formalities of a liberal democracy. The party had no formal view on religion other than to guarantee freedom of worship while at the same time acknowledging and affirming that Roman Catholicism was the historical religion of the Spanish people and its spiritual role in society was important to them. In Primo de Rivera's thinking the ultimate goal of the new political movement was the resurgence of Spain as a major power. Article 1 of the Falangist Manifesto of 1934 reads, We believe in the supreme reality of Spain. To strengthen her, to make her
Miguel Primo de Rivera this might be the reason why the Spanish Socialist Party and UGT were quick to cooperate with the government and its leaders affiliated themselves with the committees mentioned before. Individual workers also benefited because the regime undertook massive public works. The government financed such projects with huge public loans, which Calvo Sotelo argued would be repaid by the increased taxes resulting from economic expansion. Unemployment largely disappeared. But Primo de Rivera brought order to Spain with a price: his regime was a dictatorship, albeit a mild one. He censored the press. When intellectuals criticized the government, he closed El Ateneo,