23-F
Encyclopedia
- See also subsequent 1982 Spanish coup d'état attempt
23-F was an attempted coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
that began on 23 February 1981 and ended on the following day. It is also known as El Tejerazo from the name of its most visible figure, Antonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero Molina is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most visible figure in the attempted coup d'état – also known as the 'Tejerazo' – against the Spanish democracy on 23 February 1981....
, who led the failed coup's most notable event: the bursting into the Spanish Congress of Deputies
Spanish Congress of Deputies
The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...
by a group of 200 armed officers of the Guardia Civil during the process of electing Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquis of the Ría of Ribadeo and Grandee of Spain was a Spanish political figure and prime minister during the period of transition after the end of Francisco Franco's regime.-Biography:...
to be the country's new Prime Minister. King Juan Carlos I gave a nationally televised address denouncing the coup and urging the maintenance of law and the continuance of the democratically elected government. The coup soon collapsed. After holding the Parliament and cabinet hostage for 18 hours the hostage-takers surrendered the next morning without having harmed anyone.
Prior events
The coup d'état of 1981 was closely related to the events of the Spanish transition to democracySpanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
. Four elements created a permanent tension that the governing Democratic Center Union
Democratic Center Union (Spain)
The Union of the Democratic Centre was an electoral coalition, and later political party, in Spain, existing from 1977 to 1983, and initially led by Adolfo Suárez.-History:...
(UCD), a coalition of conservative parties, could no longer contain:
- problems arising from the economic crisis (almost 20% unemploymentUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
coupled with capital flightCapital flightCapital flight, in economics, occurs when assets and/or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an economic event and that disturbs investors and causes them to lower their valuation of the assets in that country, or otherwise to lose confidence in its economic...
and 16% inflationInflationIn economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
) - difficulties in creating devolved governments for the Spanish regions,
- increased violence by the Basque separatist group ETAETAETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
, - reluctance and/or opposition by a significant part of the Spanish Armed Forces to accept the newly-born democratic system, after 37 years of Franco's military government, fueled (in their opinion) by the inability of the democracy to face and handle the aforementioned problems properly.
The first signs of unease in the army appeared in April 1977. Admiral Pita da Veiga resigned as Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
minister and formed the Superior Council of the Army. This act arose from Da Veiga's disagreement with the legalisation of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) on 9 April 1977, following the Atocha massacre by neo-fascists (Spanish: 'ultras'). In November 1978, the Operation Galaxia
Operation Galaxia
Operation Galaxia was the codename given to the plan which preceded the 23-F attempted coup d'état in Spain. It was named Galaxia, because the officers who took part met in Cafetería Galaxia in Madrid , on 11 November 1978.It was meant to take place on 17 November 1978, to stop the Spanish...
military putsch was put down. Its leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero Molina is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most visible figure in the attempted coup d'état – also known as the 'Tejerazo' – against the Spanish democracy on 23 February 1981....
, was sentenced to seven months in prison.
While insurgent sentiment grew in sectors of the military and extreme right, the government reached a profound crisis at the beginning of the decade, which throughout 1980, became more untenable at each turn. Unfolding key events saw the resignation of the Minister of Culture, Manuel Clavero on 15 January; the restructuring of the government on 3 May; the motion of censure against Adolfo Suarez
Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.-Parents:He is a son of...
by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE) between 28 May and 30 May; the resignation on 22 July of the vice-president, Fernando Abril Martorell
Fernando Abril Martorell
Fernando Abril Martorell was a Valencian Spanish politician and agricultural engineer.-Biography:Born in Valencia, Spain, he studied Agricultural Engineering and Political Sciences in Madrid, later obtaining a doctorate in both...
, which produced a new restructuring in September; and the election in October of Miguel Herrero Rodríguez de Miñón, alternative candidate of the official bid for president of the centrist parliamentary group promoted by Suárez.
The growing weakness of Suárez at the heart of his own party led to his televised resignation as president of the government and of the UCD on 29 January 1981. On 1 February, the Colectivo "Almendros" published an openly insurgent article in the far-right newspaper El Alcázar
El Alcázar
El Alcázar was a Spanish far-right newspaper founded in 1936 . The paper was founded as the principal nationalist mouthpiece during the Siege of the Alcázar in homage to the defenders of the Alcázar of Toledo ....
, which was the mouthpiece of the Búnker
Búnker
The term búnker refers to a far-right faction during the Spanish transition to democracy. The group of hardline francoists opposed political and social reform; the group's steadfast refusal to compromise led to the name of "bunker." Under the presidency of Carlos Arias Navarro, búnker and its...
hardliners, including Carlos Arias Navarro
Carlos Arias Navarro
Don Carlos Arias-Navarro, 1st Marquis of Arias-Navarro, Grandee of Spain, born Carlos Arias y Navarro was one of the best known Spanish politicians during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco....
, Luis Carrero Blanco
Luis Carrero Blanco
Don Luis Carrero Blanco, 1st Duke of Carrero Blanco, Grandee of Spain was a Spanish admiral and long-time confidant of dictator Francisco Franco.- Biography :...
's successor as Prime minister, and the leader of the neo-fascist party Fuerza Nueva
Fuerza Nueva
New Force was the name of a succession of far-right political parties in Spain founded by Blas Piñar, the son of one of the defenders of the Alcázar of Toledo and director of the Institute of Hispanic Culture during the Francoist period...
, Blas Piñar
Blas Piñar
Blas Piñar is a Spanish politician. He has had connections with Catholic organizations; directed the Institute of Spanish Culture and served as deputy in the Cortes and a councillor of the Movimiento Nacional.In the 1960s, Blas Piñar was in charge of the Institute of Spanish Culture that was...
. From 2 February to 4 February, the King and Queen traveled to Guernica, where the deputies of Herri Batasuna received them with boos and hisses and various incidents. On 6 February, the engineer Ryan from the Lemoiz
Lemoiz
Lemoiz is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It has a population of about 1000....
nuclear project was found murdered, having been kidnapped a few days earlier. Meanwhile, there was no further news about industrialist Luis Suñer after his abduction.
In this tense climate, the process of choosing Suárez's successor commenced. Between 6 February and 9 February, the 2nd UCD congress was held in Majorca, where the party appeared to be in disarray and Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún
Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún
Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún was a Spanish politician and businessman as well as being a doctor in economics and law who was best known as being the mayor of Madrid from 1989-1991....
was named acting president. On 10 February, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquis of the Ría of Ribadeo and Grandee of Spain was a Spanish political figure and prime minister during the period of transition after the end of Francisco Franco's regime.-Biography:...
was named candidate for president of the government.
Tensions came to a head on 13 February, when news emerged of the death in Carabanchel
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district in the south western suburbs of Madrid, Spain.-Overview:The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the Spanish Civil War -especially in November 1936, during the Battle of Madrid, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unacustomed to street...
of the ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
militant Jose Ignacio Arregui, a victim of torture after being held incommunicado during 10 days in the General Security Directorate (Dirección General de Seguridad). A general strike in the Basque region and an acrimonious debate between opposing parliamentary groups in the Congress followed. The government then dismissed various police chiefs, while in the Interior Ministry, there were resignations in solidarity with the torturers. El Alcázar judged the government's actions a show of weakness that needed to be stopped.
Against this extraordinary backdrop, Calvo Sotelo introduced his government on 18 February, but in elections on the 20th he failed to obtain the necessary majority for confirmation as Prime Minister, so a new vote was scheduled for the 23rd. This was the day that the plotters had chosen for their coup attempt. It would be the result of a strong effort by Tejero and General Jaime Milans del Bosch
Jaime Milans del Bosch
Jaime Milans del Bosch y Ussía was a Lieutenant General in the Spanish Army who was dismissed in 1981 for his role in the failed coup d'état of 23 February 1981 .-Biography:...
, on the one hand, and a more subdued one by General Alfonso Armada, a confidant of the King, on the other.
The coup
At 18:21, the different coup plots that had been fomenting since the beginning of the transition to democracy met in a coordinated action. At 18:30, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio TejeroAntonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero Molina is a Spanish former Lieutenant Colonel of the Guardia Civil, and the most visible figure in the attempted coup d'état – also known as the 'Tejerazo' – against the Spanish democracy on 23 February 1981....
, 200 Guardia Civil agents, armed with submachine guns, interrupted the Congress of Deputies
Spanish Congress of Deputies
The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...
of the Spanish parliament
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
. Several TVE
Televisión Española
Televisión Española is the national state-owned public-service television broadcaster in Spain. TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and subsidies from the national government, but since it's been supported by subsidies only.TVE belongs to the RTVE...
cameramen and technicians (as well as members from rival station SER
Cadena SER
La Cadena SER is Spain's premier radio network in terms of both seniority and audience share...
, who were forced off air by the military) recorded almost half an hour of the event, providing the world with an audiovisual record of the attempt (which would be transmitted several hours after the coup ended). From the rostrum, gun in hand, Tejero ordered everyone to be silent and wait for a competent military authority, who never came.
During the shooting of several machine gun rounds, whilst almost all deputies dropped terrified on the floor, three kept standing defiantly: acting Minister of Defense General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado
Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado
Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, 1st Marquis of Gutiérrez Mellado was a Spanish general and government minister. Appointed Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army in June 1976, Gutiérrez Mellado served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from September 21, 1976 to February 26, 1981, holding the Defence...
, who stood up and ordered Tejero to desist; acting President of the Government Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.-Parents:He is a son of...
, who remained sitting down instead of crouching on the floor; and Communist leader Santiago Carrillo
Santiago Carrillo
Santiago Carrillo Solares is a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain from 1960 to 1982.- Childhood and early youth :...
, who, sitting down, calmly lit a cigarette and did not seem to be disturbed by the events.
General Mellado and President Suárez ordered the insurgents to disarm. The Guardia Civil agents assaulted them, following the attack, by firing numerous rounds from a submachine gun into the ceiling. By taking the parliament and dragooning the executive and legislative powers, they sought to create a power vacuum
Power vacuum
A power vacuum is, in its broadest sense, an expression for a condition that exists when someone has lost control of something and no one has replaced them. It is usually used to refer to a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority...
in which to establish a new political power.
Moreover, four of the deputies were separated from the rest: the still president of the government, Suárez; the opposition leader, Felipe González Márquez; the second on the rolls of the PSOE, Alfonso Guerra González
Alfonso Guerra
Alfonso Guerra González is a Spanish politician. A leading member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party , he served as Vice President of the Government of Spain from 1982 to 1991, under the presidency of Felipe González...
; and Carrillo.
Shortly afterward, the Captain General of the Third Military Region, Jaime Milans del Bosch
Jaime Milans del Bosch
Jaime Milans del Bosch y Ussía was a Lieutenant General in the Spanish Army who was dismissed in 1981 for his role in the failed coup d'état of 23 February 1981 .-Biography:...
, rose up in Valencia
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
, put tanks on the streets, declared a state of emergency and tried to convince other senior military figures to support the coup. At nine o'clock that night, a communication from the Interior Ministry announced the formation of a provisional government with the undersecretaries of different ministries, under the instructions of the King, to ensure governance of the state and a tight contact with the Assembly of Military Chiefs of Staff (Junta de Jefes del Estado Mayor).
Meanwhile, another insurgent general, Torres Rojas, failed in his intent to supplant General Juste in the Brunete division of the military, giving up the intention to occupy strategic points in the capital, among them the seat of radio and television operations, and the proliferation of communiques about the success of the coup.
The refusal of the King to promote the coup led to it being called off during the night. The monarch assured himself after discussions, personal and with colleagues, of the fidelity of military leaders. He also noted the attitude of the President of the autonomous government of Catalonia
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
, Jordi Pujol, who just before 10 p.m. that evening made a short speech via national broadcasting stations, to all of Spain and the exterior, calling for peace. Until 1:00 in the morning, negotiations took place around the Congress, with the participation of the acting government as well as General Alfonso Armada, who would later be relieved of duty over suspicion that he participated in the coup.
At 1:14 on 24 February, the king interceded on television, in uniform as the Captain General of the Armed Forces (Capitán General de los Ejércitos), the highest Spanish military rank, to position himself against the insurgents, defend the Spanish Constitution and undermine the authority of Milans del Bosch. He declared, "The crown, symbol of the permanence and unity of the nation, cannot tolerate, in any form, actions or attitudes attempting to interrupt the democratic process." At that moment, the coup was taken to be a failure.
At midnight, Alfonso Armada presented himself in Congress with a dual objective: to convince Lieutenant Colonel Tejero to relinquish his posture and assume himself the role of head of government under the order of the king, in a clearly unconstitutional manner. But Armada was not the awaited "competent, military authority" and Tejero ignored him. For his part, Milans del Bosch, isolated, cancelled his plans at 5:00 that morning and was arrested, while Tejero resisted until midday of the 24th and was arrested outside the Congress building. The deputies were freed that morning.
Deputy Javier Solana
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...
has described how when he saw Tejero reading a special edition of the El País newspaper brought in by General Sáenz de Santamaría, which strongly condemned the hostage-taking, he knew that the coup had failed.
International Reactions
Shortly after the assault, the coup was strongly condemned by country members of the EECEEC
EEC is an abbreviation that usually refers to the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Union.It may also refer to;* The East Erie Commercial Railroad, a shortline in Pennsylvania...
, with which Spain was under negotiation for adhesion (that finally took place in 1986). Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, prime minister of the UK, called the coup a "terrorist act".
The United States kept a neutral official position at the beginning of the action. Several indications suggest that the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
was informed about the imminence of the coup. Among other suspect behaviors, the military involved in the putsch were received in Washington in 1980, and American forces in the Strait of Gibraltar were placed under a state of preparedness at the Torrejón de Ardoz
Torrejón de Ardoz
Torrejón de Ardoz is a town in the urban area of Madrid, Spain that has about 110,000 inhabitants.It is a town 20 km east of Madrid on the NII highway . It is essentially a dormitory town, mostly consisting of apartments. It can be reached by bus from Av...
Air Force base on the Sunday before the coup.
Tejero himself, sitting at the bench during his trial, mentioned openly that "both the United States government and the Vatican had been sounded out by the General Armada". After the appearance of Tejero in the chamber, U.S. Secretary of State, General Alexander Haig
Alexander Haig
Alexander Meigs Haig, Jr. was a United States Army general who served as the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...
said only that "the assault on the Congress is an internal affair that concerns the Spanish People", which led to serious international criticism. Once the coup failed, he declared "we must congratulate ourselves that democracy triumphed in Spain".
Consequences
After the coup, some suspects remained, especially according to the roles played by each one of the instigators and the intentions and resources of Armada. Without a doubt, the most immediate consequence was that the monarchy emerged powerfully reinforced by political resources and the public.Later, in the judgement which followed before the Supreme Court of Military Justice, known as the Campamento trial (juicio de Campamento). Miláns del Bosch, Alfonso Armada, Carlos Fenollar and Antonio Tejero Molina were condemned as principally responsible for the coup d'état and were sentenced to thirty years in prison. Thirty people were eventually convicted for the attempted coup, out of an initial 300 who were involved.
The civilian plot behind the coup was never investigated rigorously. Juan García Carrés, ex-leader of the Sindicato Vertical (the only legal trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organisation in Francoist Spain), was the only civilian to be convicted.
Local nationalists have asserted that the LOAPA law limiting the devolution to the autonomous communities
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
was passed to placate the military.
To date, 23-F has been the last coup attempt in the history of Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
.
See also
- Operación Galaxia, an earlier coup plan.
- Coup d'état conspiracy for the 27 October 1982 (Spain)
- Spanish transition to democracySpanish transition to democracyThe Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
(Transición Española)
Books
- 23-F: The Coup That Never Existed (23-F: El Golpe Que Nunca Existio) by Amadeo Martinez Ingles, 2001 - ISBN 84-95440-13-X
- The Business of Liberty (El negocio de la libertad) by Jesús Cacho, 1999 - ISBN 84-930481-9-4
- The Coup: Anatomy and Keystones of the Assault on Congress (El Golpe: Anatomía y Claves Del Asalto Al Congreso by Busquets, Julio, Miguel A. Aguilar, and Ignacio Puche, 1981 (written a few days after the coup)
- Un rey golpe a golpe ("A King, Coup to Coup") by Patricia Sverlo, 2000 (limited distribution in Spain)
- Anatomy of a Moment (Anatomía de un Instante) by Javier CercasJavier CercasJavier Cercas is a writer and, since 1989, a Professor of Spanish literature at the University of Girona, Spain. He is a frequent contributor to the Catalan edition of El País and the Sunday supplement...
(Spanish, Mondadori, 2009, ISBN 978-84-397-2213-7), (English, Bloomsbury, 2011, ISBN 978-1-60819-491-9) - Diecisiete horas y media. El enigma del 23-F by Javier Fernández López (Spanish) editorial:TAURUS EDICIONES, 2000 ISBN 978-84-306-0412-8
External links
- TVE: 30 años del intento golpista: TVE's footage of the events (33 minutes)
- BBC News - On This Day 23 February - 1981: Rebel army seizes control in Spain (with video)
- King Orders army to crush coup, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 23 February 1981 - Special from El Mundo
- Videos from the coup and television documentary
- SPAIN: King Juan Carlos (plot theories)
- Voices of the Transition - A Political History of Spain, 1975-1982