Spain is 40th anniversary of unsuccessful coup without Juan Carlos

Spain recalled on February 23, 1981, the 40th anniversary of the attempt in the absence of former King Juan Carlos, who played a key role in the failure of the put.


“40 years ago, Spain experienced an attack on its democratic system of extraordinary gravity,” Juan Carlos’s son King Felipe VI said during a ceremony held in the Chamber of Deputies in the presence of the head of government, socialist Pedro Sánchez.

A ceremony whose great absentee would be Juan Carlos, which ended in 2014 and went into exile in the United Arab Emirates in August, while doubts were growing about the opaque origins of his fate.

The former sovereign, who last year paid nearly 680,000 euros to Spanish tax authorities in an attempt to avoid prosecution for money laundering, is the subject of a total of three judicial investigations.

On February 23, 1981, the image of Lieutenant-Colonel of Civil Guard Antonio Tejero Molina, pistol in hand, was carved into the story of about 200 men behind the Courts (lower house of parliament).

Less than six years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, Spain was then in the process of democratization that these soldiers wanted to stop.

But Juan Carlos I, from the 43-year-old Czaruela Palace, exerts all his energy to defeat this coup, one by one commanding all the generals from various military areas of the country and wearing his uniform as captain to television A great address is given. Of the armed forces.

“The Crown, a symbol of the stability and unity of the motherland, cannot in any way tolerate the actions or attitudes of those who claim to disrupt the democratic process by force,” he said.

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Tejero and his men finally agreed to surrender at noon on 24 February and would release the depots and ministers held hostage.

For the daily El Mundo, Juan Carlos’ absence, “banished due to his malleable errors, should not tarnish the brilliant role he played, praising his television address (…). It was reinforced when It was not even compared to the best of the West ”.

A role for which Felipe VI, a direct witness to this historic night when he was only 13, paid tribute on Tuesday.

“Perseverance and his authority were decisive for the defense and triumph of democracy,” emphasized the sovereign, who distanced himself from his father by abandoning his inheritance in March and presuming to withdraw his annual allowance, about 200,000 euros. Guessed.

Forty years after this failed coup, democracy and Spanish institutions remain the subject of debate.

Poblo Iglesias, the leader of the radical left party, Podlo Iglesias, at number three in the government recently sparked controversy by saying Spain did not have a “state of absolute political and democratic normalcy”.

In addition, several smaller parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies, such as the separatist parties Gauche Repolisón de Catalan and the Ensemble pour la Catalan, decided to boycott the ceremony due to the presence of King Felipo VI.

In the manifesto, these structures confirmed that Spain could not be regarded as “a complete democracy (…) as long as the Spanish states depended on political, judicial, police, and monarchical structures as they did 40 years ago.” Does “.

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“We see social discontent on the streets in these days, exhaustion in protest and opposition to these democratic shortcomings”, he added in reference to the violent demonstrations that rocked Barcelona since Razor Pablo Hasel’s imprisonment last Tuesday In the “apologize for terrorism” tweets.

(AFP)

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