Ramón Serrano Suñer, was a Spanish politician during the first stages of the Francoist dictatorship, between 1938 and 1942, when he held the posts of President of the FET y de las JONS caucus (1936), and then Interior Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister. A neofalangist originally from the CEDA, Serrano Suñer came to embody the most totalitarian impetus within the regime. Serrano Suñer was known for his pro-Third Reich stance during World War II, when he supported the sending of the Blue Division to fight along with the Wehrmacht on the Russian front. He was also the brother-in-law of Francisco Franco's wife Carmen Polo, for which he was informally nicknamed Cuñadísimo or the "most brother-in-law".
Serrano Suñer during a visit to the headquarters of the LSSAH in Berlin-Lichterfelde, September 1940.
Heinrich Himmler at Madrid Northern Railway Station, October 1940, being honoured by Spanish soldiers. Ramón Serrano Suñer is in a dark uniform then worn by the Spanish Falange Party leaders.
Serrano Suñer (left) and Joachim von Ribbentrop (right) in Berlin, 1940
The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco Franco in 1937 as a merger of the fascist Falange Española de las JONS with the monarchist neo-absolutist and integralist Catholic Traditionalist Communion belonging to the Carlist movement. In addition to the resemblance of names, the party formally retained most of the platform of FE de las JONS and a similar inner structure. In force until April 1977, it was rebranded as the Movimiento Nacional in 1958.
Visit of Franco to Tolosa in 1948. The podium is decorated with the yoke and arrows, the symbol of the Sindicato Vertical and the Cross of Burgundy.
