He was strongly opposed to the Spanish Republic of 1931 and was one of the few officers to participate in the failed coup attempt of General Jose Sanjurjo of 10 August 1932.
[1] During his stay in Villa Cisneros he neared Carlism and during the conspiracy of 1936 he served as a Carlist representative in the Army of Africa.
[2] At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936 Tella, a major, commanded a column of General Juan Yagüe's Army of Africa in its drive north from Seville.
His outstanding success was the Battle of Mérida, on 11 August, in which his defence of the city enabled the bulk of Yagüe's army to move against Badajoz without being outflanked.
Historian Paul Preston suggests that Tella was removed because of his strong pro-monarchist position which wanted to see Franco replaced by the pretender Juan de Borbon y Battenberg.