Importance of the 1981 Coup Attempt in Spain

Alsina González
Specialist journalist and researcher

I have vague memories (I was not yet seven years old then) of seeing on television, and in black and white, that "gentleman" who entered a very large room, with many people, and shouted "quiet everyone!" and "everyone floor!". And then shots. And my father and my mother talking, worried about what could happen from that moment on.

I have to confess that at that moment I was amused - how could I have been amused by any innocent child like I was then - and that even in the days following I even played with my toys to reproduce what I had seen on "TV", especially the episode starring that "gentleman" from moustache.

Only with the passing of the years and as I gradually gained political and social awareness, did I get an exact idea of ​​what I experienced, without being aware of it, on February 23, 1981.

In 1981, Spain was leaving behind the transition process which, since Franco's death in 1975, had brought democracy to the country, a democracy still fragile and highly threatened from sectors such as the army.

The armed forces Spanish women were direct heirs of Francoism, of the army that won the civil war, purged in 1936 and which had remained one of the mainstays of the regime.

However, it should be noted that the winds of change were also blowing in the military; some -few- middle managers had a more politically open mentality, and formed entities such as the UMD (Democratic Military Union).

Where this incipient democracy among the military had not found a foothold was among the senior commanders, who issued threats, sometimes veiled and other explicit, to the rulers civilians. It is what was called "rumor of sabers”, and which did not begin to abate until after the failed attempt to coup.

The conspiracy for the coup of 23-F of 1981 was not the only one that existed within the Spanish army either.

Some conspirators participated in various plots, although all except this one did not go beyond initial talks or some very fledgling plans.

The one that had caused the greatest concern was the so-called "Operation Galaxy", dismantled in November 1978 by the security services. intelligence Spanish people.

The political climate was also rarefied and, in fact, on February 23, 1981, the investiture session for a new prime minister was voted in the second round.

Adolfo Suárez, survivor -like so many other Spanish politicians of the transition and of the later years- of the cadres leaders of the Franco regime, had resigned as president, and there was a debate about his replacement by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo.

The first vote took place on February 20, without achieving the sufficient minimum, so the second round of voting was scheduled for February 23.

Before continuing, I want to make it clear that much of what surrounds 23-F is shrouded in an aura of mystery.

For example, what was the participation of King Juan Carlos I? Some qualified voices have pointed out that he would have pulled the strings from behind to appear as the savior of the situation avoiding a new civil war, thus cementing a throne that was still young, like the same democracy in Spain.

Years after the coup attempt, some participants affirmed that what they had done, they had done for the king.

It is also not clear planning of the blow; Some say that Antonio Tejero, lieutenant colonel of the Civil Guard who broke into the Congress of Deputies, rushed. Others say that Tejero was acting of their own accord, without having consulted with anyone or having coordinated with other participants, and that the others who reacted did so following their own guidelines in the heat of what was happening.

However, in all cases, the objective was the same: to create a power vacuum by provoking a government of national concentration that would unite the main political forces accepted by the military and moderate anti-Francoists, freezing the democratic process and solving political instability and the crisis economic.

After a period of two or three years, this government would cede its place to another already democratically elected.

In this way, the ultra-right and radical left groups, as well as the nationalist demands for territories with claims (and, especially, in the Basque case, the issue of the terrorist group ETA), could be persecuted, controlled and, finally, silenced.

At On February 23, 1981, shortly before 6:23 p.m., Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero entered the command of 200 civil guards, in the chamber of the Congress of Deputies, interrupting the vote.

The screams to which I referred at the beginning of the article, and which were -like many others- recorded in my memory, reverberated in the room and in the halls of a good part of Spain, since the plenary session was being broadcast in straight.

The television cameras did not stop thanks to the courage of the cameras and the technical ignorance of the military, although from the moment the central Spanish television (then there was only one channel in the country) cut the broadcast, they would only remain to be recorded and broadcast deferred to after.

Only the vice president of the government at the time, Lieutenant General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, stood up and confronted Tejero, demanding that he hand over his weapon and put an end to his conduct.

The subsequent struggle between the two men and some other civil guards led to bursts of submachine guns into the air, the impact of which still remains, as a reminder, in Congress.

At 7:00 p.m., Lieutenant General Jaime Milans del Bosch declared a state of emergency in the Levante military region, and half an hour later he mobilized the maestrazgo mechanized division, with about 50 tanks, to occupy Valencia.

They don't mess around: they position themselves in front of the headquarters of the main public institutions, and point their weapons at them, including tank cannons.

At the same time, Milans del Bosch tries to convince, by telephone, other military commanders to join the coup. Of these, some declare themselves loyal to the king and the Constitution, but others are waiting for events, without decanting.

King Juan Carlos also initiates direct or indirect telephone contact (the latter, through other civil and military authorities) with the commanders of the other military regions.

It is then that another member of the conspiracy enters into action: General Alfonso Armada.

He wanted to speak with the king to propose the formation of a government of national salvation that he brought together the political forces (which was precisely the objective of the coup), chaired by the same. But they prevent him from speaking with the monarch, whose tutor he has been, so after a telephone conversation with Milans del Bosch, appeared in Congress at 11:50 p.m. to propose the formation of said government of concentration.

He first talks to Tejero, who is upset by his proposal and no longer lets him speak to the deputies, although Armada remains in Congress.

At 1:14 in the morning, in a well-considered television intervention, King Juan Carlos condemns the actions of the coup leaders, calls for calm among the citizens, and urges the military to be faithful to the constitutional order and legality current.

He is the final straw for the coup attempt; those who were waiting for the king to decide, already know what they have to do, while those who have raised, they know that they are not acting according to the will of the monarch (at least, not in a public and official).

Fifteen minutes after the address was issued, Armada leaves Congress, although the events would not rush, they would still take a few hours to be resolved.

At 5:45 in the morning, Milans del Bosch repeals the state of emergency in Valencia and returns the troops to their respective bases.

Congress would take even longer to be vacated; At 10 in the morning on February 24, Tejero allowed the deputies to leave, while he began to negotiate with Armed his surrender, which included immunity for his subordinates, in accordance with "due obedience."

At 12:15 p.m. the deputies left the Congress, and Tejero surrendered along with his men. It was over.