 Their base was primarily secular and urban but also included landless peasants and was particularly strong in industrial regions like Asturias, the Basque country, and Catalonia

This faction was called variously "leales" "Loyalists" by supporters, "Republicans", the "Popular Front", or "the government" by all parties; and/or "los rojos" "the Reds" by their opponents.Republicans were supported by urban workers, agricultural labourers, and parts of the middle class.The conservative, strongly Catholic Basque country, along with Catholic Galicia and the more left-leaning Catalonia, sought autonomy or independence from the central government of Madrid.