Supporting colonial economic policy during early Francoism: The Peninsular Delegation of the Spanish Continental Guinea Wood Syndicate

During Francoism, especially its autarkic stage, Spanish colonialism in equatorial Africa found a fundamental ally in the Spanish Continental Guinea Wood Syndicate and its Peninsular Delegation. From 1936, all of the colony’s forest concessionaires were obligated to join. More studies are needed to reflect the role certain institutions played in Spanish colonialism during this period. This paper contributes to filling this gap by studying the activity behind the work of the Peninsular Delegation – the sale of wood. It is argued that this trade was marked by an intention. It reveals the relations, understandings, distances and antagonisms woven around the colonial project and economy, while helping to understand the complex regulatory framework that the autarky applied to the use of colonial wood.