One of the most iconic mastheads of the anarchist press in Spain and often a mouthpiece for anarchist and pro-FAI [Federación Anarquista Ibérica or Iberian Anarchist Federation] groups, Tierra y Libertad took its name from a 19th-century Russian movement: Zemlya i Volya [Land and Liberty].  

In April 1931, it added the subtitle ‘Órgano de la Revolución Social de España’ [Organ of the Social Revolution in Spain]. Its editors included Aláiz and Abad de Santillán; its managers, Peirats, Juanel, Cuscó and Escorza. In 1920, it had a circulation of 30,000 copies, which were sold throughout Spain.

Its illustrators included, amongst others, Ángel Lescarboura, or ‘Les’, whose series of photomontages from 1933 offered a particularly scathing critique of the government of the Second Republic: from its repressive policies in cases such as the Casas Viejas massacre to the establishment of the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes [Vagrants and Criminals Act].

Most of the photographs were not credited. However, during the Civil War, those of the industrial collectivisations, such as of the textile, transport and beer industries, were taken by the Pérez de Rozas family. The newspaper also exceptionally featured contributions by Kati Horna.

[Source: The author, Iñíguez, 2008, p. 1685–1686.]