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Between 1950 and 1979 in Franco’s Spain, the pollution and the environmental risks associated with chemical factories, agro-industry, dams, coal-fired power stations and nuclear plants triggered social protests. In Aragon, a region divided during the Spanish Civil War that experienced socialist and anarchist collectivizations, anti-francoist working class organizations (underground trade unions and socialist parties) didn’t remain silent. Following a regional approach, this paper analyses the actions and the reasons of the working class movement in relation to the environmental issue during the second half of Franco’s regime. It also considers the limits that led to the first divisions in the emerging field of political ecology during the democratic transition.