It was in Spain that artillery pieces specifically designed for an anti-tank role fired in anger for the first time. In 1936, the Spanish Army totally lacked such weapons and, during the early fighting, long range anti-tank defence fell on the schoulders of field artillery. For instance, Nationalist artillery quickly learnt to keep one gun in each battery free to remain on the lookout for Republican tanks.

Germany began to supply the Francoist rebels with anti-tank guns in October 1936, together with some Pz.IA tanks. Twenty-four 37mm PAK 35/36 were landed at Vigo, followed by a further sixteen delivered in Cadiz some time later, bringing the total to forty. These guns were invoiced at the price of 20,000 pesetas each. German instructors quickly undertook the training of Spanish gun crews in a school the Nationalists had installed near Caceres.

Under Captain Jose del Toro Buiza, a company of fifteen 37mm PAK 35/36 anti-tank guns was first reported in action during the frontal attack against Madrid, early in November 1936. Sections of three such guns were distributed among the Nationalist attacking columns, no. l (Asensio), no. 2 (Barron), no. 3 (Delgado Serrano), no. 4 (Castejon) and no. 5 (Tella).

In December, these fifteen guns were distributed in three sections of five, assigned to the columns led by Asensio, Barron and Oelgado Serrano, for the offensive west of Madrid. In January 1937, the number of cannons present on the front line had increased a little, one whole company and three anti-tank sections beina available by then. These operated in the Nationalist offensive intended to cut the Coruna road.

For the Nationalist offensive in the Jarama valley, in February 1937, two anti-tank gun sections were alloted to Saenz de Buruaga's II Brigade, one to Barron's III brigade, and other two to Asensio's IV Brigade. During this battle, the Nationalist anti-tank guns played a major role in beating back the tank counter-attacks the Republicans launched on 11-12th February, against the Nationalist bridgehead on the eastern bank of the river. One or two anti-tank sections were said to be manned by German crews, and one Spaniard, namely provisional Lieutenant Gaspar Barbi Valdemoros won the 'Medalla Militar Individual' for his bravery on Pingarron hill.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist-German anti-tank school had been transferred to Carranque, a small village in the south of Madrid. Reinforcements continued to arrive from Germany in May 1937, in the form of 100 anti-tank guns. With these, the Nationalists organized ten batteries of ten guns each. Two of these were assigned to the Nationalist Army of the North which operated in Biscay, four to the Army of the Centre, three to General G. Queipo de Llano's Army of the South, the last one being kept in general reserve.

During the ferocious battle of Brunete, in July 1937, two anti-tank guns were in support of the infantry which garrisoned the Nationalist strongpoint of Villanueva del Pardillo. In the war communique of the 10th, these were credited with the destruction of ten of the Republican tanks which had assaulted this outpost.

At the end of September 1937, the delivery of a further batch of 50 anti-tank guns from Germany increased the number of Nationalist batteries to seventeen, shared between three groups, i.e. one group for each of the existing Nationalist Armies. On 15 September, the Nationalist command set up a higher formation for administrative purposes, namely the Agrupacion de Canones Antitanques. Commanded by Captain del Toro Buiza, this unit was administratively attached to the machine gun battalion of Plasencia and installed itself in Valladolid. By this time, the Nationalists had fonmed two more batteries with Soviet 45mm M.1932 anti-tank guns captured from the Republicans.

In February 1938, Germany delivered her fifth and last batch of 37mm anti-tank guns, again accounting for one hundred, bringing the grand total to 290. With these, the Nationalists strengthened the three existing groups and created six more batteries of general reserve which, in June 1938, became a fourth group, alloted to the newly created Nationalist Army of the Levant. On the same date, the composition of the batteries switched from homogeneous to mixed, being by then composed of eight German 37mm and two Soviet 45mm guns.

Some units of the Italian CTV expeditionary corps, among these the Raggruppamento Carristi, had also received some German anti-tank guns, as well as the Frecce Nere/Flechas Negras mixed (Italo-Spanish) Brigade.

At the end of the Spanish Civil War, in 1939, the Nationalists possessed a total of 28 anti-tank batteries, shared as follows:

• Army of the North (General F. Oavila) - six batteries
• Army of the Centre (General A. Saliquet) - ten batteries
• Army of the Levant (General L. Orgaz) - six batteries
• Army of the South (General G. Queipo de Llano) - six batteries

Among the gun crews, the following five provisional N.C.Os won a 'Medalla Militar Individual':

• Sgt Jesus Eleta Zalabardo. Teruel Feb. 1938
• Sgt Abilio Boizas del Corral. BalaguerMay. 1938
• Sgt Fernando Lopez Cuesta. Aragon May. 1938
• Sgt Herminio Gomez Corada. Madrid Oct. 1938
• Sgt Tirso Rodriguez Rodriguez. Sierra Trapera Jan. 1939