However the plan was discovered by Republican officers of Melilla on 17 July, prompting the leader of the plot in the city, Colonel Segui, to initiate the uprising.

General Romerales, the major of Melilla, the government delegate, the aerodrome commander,[4] Virgilio Leret Ruiz, and all those who resisted the rebellion were shot.

[8] The rebel troops in Ceuta occupied the working class districts and killed prominent unionists and the major of the city,[2] and in Tetuán, the Foreign Legion seized the Casa del pueblo and executed the union officers and all persons found with arms.

[1] Furthermore, Colonel Jan Luis Beigbeder gained the support of the Grand Vizier of Tetuán, Mulay Hassan, and Moroccan volunteers started to join the rebellion.

The rebels threatened to bomb both and after a few hours the defenders surrendered to the Nationalists;[1] all of them were executed, among them the high commissioner and the Major de la Puente Bahamonde – Francisco Franco's cousin.

The loyal ships patrolled the Strait of Gibraltar and Spanish Morocco was isolated from the rebel-held cities in Andalusia; Seville, Cadiz, Cordoba and Granada).

Nevertheless, with the aid of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, the Nationalists managed to transport the Army of Africa's troops to the mainland and start their advance towards Madrid.