The Man Who Tried to Kill Salazar. Emídio Santana and the Bomb on Avenida Barbosa du Bocage

Among the figures who marked the opposition to the Estado Novo, one name stands out: Emídio Santana, a Portuguese anarchist born in 1898. From an early age he was involved in the trade union movement and revolutionary organizations, and he went down in history as the man who carried out the most notorious assassination attempt against António de Oliveira Salazar.

The episode took place on July 4, 1937, on Avenida Barbosa du Bocage, in Lisbon. The plan was to throw an explosive device at the car carrying the President of the Council. However, the operation failed: the bomb hit another vehicle, killing two passersby and injuring several innocent people. Salazar escaped unharmed. The result was disastrous, not only because of the human tragedy, but also because it allowed the regime to reinforce propaganda around the head of government, portrayed as untouchable and protected from his enemies’ violence.

The device was prepared in a rudimentary manner, using dynamite, gunpowder, and a crude timed activation system. The intention was for the explosion to occur precisely as the official car passed by, but execution proved imprecise. The launching of the bomb from a moving vehicle, combined with the conspirators’ limited technical expertise, ultimately sealed the plan’s failure.

Another curious detail lies in the choice of location. Avenida Barbosa du Bocage was selected because it was a frequent route for Salazar, without much visible security apparatus. However, at the time, the dictator’s routine was relatively unpredictable, and he often traveled in ordinary cars without armor or visible escorts. This factor, far from making the plot easier, introduced room for miscalculation that proved fatal to the plan.

After the attack, Emídio Santana managed to escape abroad, moving through several European countries. In 1940, however, he was arrested by Scotland Yard in London, at a time when Portugal was officially neutral but a strategic ally of Britain. Extradited, he was handed over to the PVDE and sentenced to a long prison term. He spent more than two decades behind bars, first in Aljube and then in Peniche, only being released in 1969, under Marcello Caetano’s government.

Back in freedom, he witnessed the end of the Estado Novo and the Revolution of April 25, 1974, spending his last years in relative anonymity. He died in 1982, in Lisbon, by then a democratic country.

The trajectory of Emídio Santana is inseparable from the clandestinity and political radicalization of his time. The 1937 attack remains a milestone in the history of violent resistance to the Estado Novo, remembered both for its audacity and for its failure and immediate consequences. More than overthrowing the regime, the act ended up serving the Salazarist propaganda machine, which skillfully exploited the error to consolidate the dictator’s image.

Paulo Freitas do Amaral

Professor, Historian and Author