Anarchist Organization of the Spanish Region

The Anarchist Organization of the Spanish Region (Spanish: Organización Anarquista de la Región Española; OARE) was a Spanish anarchist political organization formed by a loose network of affinity groups. Established in September 1888, following the dissolution of the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE), the OARE acted as the political counterpart to the Pact of Union and Solidarity (PUS), itself a trade union center. The OARE gained support at tertulias, where its members attempt to win converts to anarchism and agitated for violent action. It was a highly decentralized organization and permitted members of all anarchist schools of thought, although anarchist communism was the predominant tendency. The OARE was short-lived, as it was rendered defunct following the rise of anarchist terrorism in Spain during the 1890s. Its anarchist communist theories continued to be upheld by the Tierra y Libertad newspaper, while its affinity group structure provided a precursor to the later Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI).