Pedro Rico

He was attacked by Francoist Spain for his alleged corruption and obesity, and his death at age 69 was barely mentioned by the regime's press.

Weighing 130 kg, he was known for enjoying the limelight, commissioning Agustín Segura to paint him wearing a sash of the flag of the Second Spanish Republic.

On 6 November, the Republican government relocated to Valencia, with Rico alongside them, delegating his office to his deputy Cayetano Redondo Aceña.

At Tarancón in the Province of Cuenca, the convoy was stopped by anarchist militiamen of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT); they chastised Rico as a coward for leaving Madrid during the Francoist advance, beat him and sent him back to the capital.

He was one of 56 people to take refuge there that month, most others being opponents of the Republic, including future Francoist prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco.

By December 1936, food was running short in Madrid and Mexico began to evacuate the refugees, taking Rico to Valencia on 20 January 1937 and housing him in property owned by the country.

[2] In January 1943, Francoist Spain banned Rico from returning to the country for 15 years and fined him 10 million Spanish pesetas.

By the end of World War II he was living in Aix-en-Provence and in September 1945 he moved to Mexico, arriving in Nuevo Laredo via the United States in November to attend the Republican Cortes in exile.