Editing May Days (section)

=== 5 May ===
Inside the Generalitat, Tarradellas, backed by [[Lluís Companys|Companys]], still resisted the resignation of [[Artemi Ayguadé]], which was demanded by the Anarchists. In the end, a solution was reached and Companys achieved a fragile truce between the different groups. To satisfy the anarchists' demands, the Catalan government would resign and form a new one without Ayguadé that would represent Anarchists, [[Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya|ERC]], [[PSUC]] and [[Unió de Rabassaires]].<ref name="Thomas711" /> However, uncontrollable shootings still swept through the streets of Barcelona and caused the death of those who had ventured to leave their shelters. At 9:30 the Assault Guard attacked the seat of the doctors' trade union in Santa Ana Square, in central Barcelona, and the headquarters of the local [[Libertarian Youth|FIJL]]. Anarchists denounced government complicity and Soviet interests in that attack on the social revolution in Catalonia. The Friends of Durruti Group published various leaflets demanding the release of [[Francisco Maroto del Ojo]], an Andalusian anarchist who had recently been jailed, and asking people to resist.<ref name="Thomas711" /> In one of them, it declared:

<blockquote>A Revolutionary Junta has been constituted in Barcelona. All the culprits of the coup d'etat, that operate under the protection of the government, will be executed. The POUM will be a member of the Junta because they support workers.<ref name="Thomas712">Hugh Thomas, p. 712.</ref></blockquote>

Nevertheless, both the CNT-FAI and the FIJL refused to take part in the initiative of that group. At about five o'clock, the anarchist authors [[Camillo Berneri]] and Francesco Barbieri were arrested by a group of twelve guards, six of them members of the local police and the rest from the PSUC. Both were murdered during their arrest.<ref name="Thomas711" /> The climate of alarm worsened when British destroyers arrived at the port. The POUM feared that a bombardment would begin.<ref group="note">[[George Orwell]], who occupied a POUM post at the front line, shared this fear.</ref> In fact, the British feared that anarchists would take control of the situation, and talks occurred on evacuating foreign subjects from the city.<ref name="Thomas712" /> At night, [[Federica Montseny]], Minister of Health and an important member of the CNT, arrived with the purpose of mediating between all of the parties.<ref name="Thomas712" /> The Communist [[Antonio Sesé]], General Secretary of the Catalan [[Unión General de Trabajadores|UGT]] and a member of the Generalitat's new provisional council, died in a gunfight on his way to receive his new appointment.<ref name="Thomas712" />

The same day, combat occurred in [[Tarragona]] and other coastal towns. There too, the Assault Guard proceeded to oust the [[Confederación Nacional del Trabajo|CNT]] from the telephone exchanges they had occupied. Similar actions in [[Tortosa]] and [[Vic, Spain|Vic]] resulted in a final death toll of 30 anarchists in [[Tarragona]] and another 30 in [[Tortosa]].<ref name="Thomas712" /> At night, Lluis Companys and then Prime Minister Francisco Largo Caballero held a telephone conversation in which the Catalan President accepted the Spanish government's offer of assistance for restoring order.<ref>Ángel Ossorio y Gallardo, ''Vida y sacrificio de Companys'', p. 210.</ref>