Sindicato Español Universitario


The Sindicato Español Universitario was a corporatist students' union in Spain, created in the 1930s during the Second Spanish Republic, by the Falange Española under the leadership of José Antonio Primo de Rivera. The SEU was inspired by students' unions linked to contemporary fascist parties of Italy and Romania.
It was founded with the aim of crushing the then prevalent and to introduce Falangist propaganda in the university circles.
At the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, the SEU was proclaimed the sole legal student organization by the Francoist regime, now as part of the FET y de las JONS. Although all students were formally required to be members, it never succeeded in gaining a foothold in universities across the country, and by the mid-1960s democratically-oriented students began to autonomously organize themselves in clandestine organizations, particularly in Catalonia. In 1965, it was practically dismantled by the regime following its infiltration by an underground anti-Francoist group, the , which had succeeded in obtaining representatives on most university councils.
After 1965, the SEU disappeared from university life and was reorganized in 1977 within the Falangist party. The later splits gave rise to various regroupings which still claimed the historical union.