Santiago José Carrillo Solares ( 18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012 ) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain ( PCE ) from 1960 to 1982 . He was a key figure in Spanish communism since from the era of the Second Spanish Republic to the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy . He fought in the Spanish Civil War , his role in the Paracuellos massacres being particularly controversial . He would later be exiled , and during the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco ( Francoist Spain ) he was a leader of the democratic opposition to the regime . His role as leader of the PCE would later make him a key figure in the transition to democracy . He later embraced Eurocommunism and democratic socialism , and was a deputy in the Congress of Deputies from 1977 to 1986
Paracuellos massacres
Paracuellos massacres
Santiago Carrillo