For other people called Jose Rivera, see Jose Rivera

José Antonio Primo de Rivera (April 24, 1903–November 20, 1936) was the son of general Miguel Primo de Rivera, who was dictator of Spain from 1923 until 1930. José Antonio became a lawyer, and was an editor for the right-wing journal El Fascio and the periodical ABC. He was born in Madrid, in the number 24 of the Genova street.

He founded Falange Española (Spanish Phalanx) in 1933, which wanted to make Spain a fascism-inspired state, transcending the class fight. In the general election in 1936, Falange won only 0.7 % of the votes, but Falange grew rapidly and by July it had more than 40,000 members.

Primo de Rivera was a supporter of the military rebellion in July 1936 against the republican government, and during the Spanish Civil War the Falange became the dominant political movement of the Nationalists. He wrote the lyrics to the Falangist anthem Cara al Sol.

He was captured on the 6th of July 1936, and held in captivity until being executed in Alicante on 20th November 1936.

Francisco Franco's regime held a cult of personality for José Antonio. He was a "martyr of the Crusade" (see El Ausente). On the outer wall of every parish of Spain, there was a plate naming local soldiers that died during the war (Caídos por Dios y por España, "Fallen for God and Spain"). José Antonio's name was the first on every plate. José Antonio became a very common name in Spain.

José Antonio's sister, Pilar Primo de Rivera , founded the Sección Femenina (female branch of Falange). The sección femenina did a great job recompiling systematically all the different traditions of the Spanish regions (gastronomy, music, dance, etc...).

Franco ordered the building of the Valle de los Caídos mausoleum with forced labor, where José Antonio's corpse lies now. On 20th November, nearly forty years later (1975), Franco died (there are suspicions that his life was artificially prolonged to meet the significant date). Franco's corpse was interred beside José Antonio's.

José Antonio did not consider his movement (called nacionalsindicalismo) as a fascist movement, as both movements only had in common the exaltation of the nation concept.

20th November remains a symbolic date for the Spanish far-right. The last statue left in Spain of Primo de Rivera was removed March 2005 after the government decided it was not suitable in a democratic state. It was also concerned that it had become a pilgrimage site for far-right extremists.