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| King Juan Carlos ascended the throne two days after the death of Gen Francisco Franco (Image: Getty Image) |
Numerous documents pertaining to a coup attempt that occurred 45 years ago, considered a pivotal moment in the country's history, have been made available by the government of Spain. On 23 February 1981, a group of officers burst into the main chamber of the national parliament, wielding guns and threatening the politicians as a new government was being sworn in. Six years after Francisco Franco's death, their objective was to reinstate authoritarianism. When King Juan Carlos refused to support them, their efforts were unsuccessful. However, since then, a plethora of conspiracy theories have surfaced, some of which suggest that the king may have been aware of the coup in advance or even actively participated in it.
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The release of the 153 classified documents sparked a lot of anticipation, to the point where the government website where the documents were supposed to be posted temporarily went down. Transcripts of official conversations, police and judicial reports, and the responses of foreign governments to the events are among them. However, the files themselves do not appear to contain any shocking information. Francisco Franco - Spain's brutal dictator - died in 1975, paving the way for the introduction of a parliamentary monarchy.
Six years later, during the attempted coup, Spain's fragile democracy appeared to be in jeopardy for several hours. After the young king addressed the Spaniards and the armed forces via televised message to express his opposition to the rebels and instruct all military personnel to remain in their barracks, it eventually failed. The incident cemented Juan Carlos's status as the hero of their fledgling democracy and the nation's rejection of Francoist ideals for many Spaniards. However, many people have questioned the king's supposed heroic role in the decades since. Other theories claimed that the uprising was a set-up by the political establishment aimed at providing a test that would reinforce the country's democracy.
The current Socialist-led government of Pedro Sánchez said that having documents related to this event under lock and key was an "historical anomaly" which needed to be corrected and that their release posed no risk to anyone.
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It also said that their declassification would serve to undermine those peddling false theories about the coup.
However, there were some interesting revelations in the files, including that six members of the intelligence services were involved in the plot.
Another document showed that the security forces estimated that, if a police special unit attempted to break into the parliament building, it might lead to "between 80 and 110 deaths".
After the coup failed, messages of support from foreign governments were also among the documents. "All of us in Great Britain are reassured to know the final result" was the message that Queen Elizabeth II sent to King Juan Carlos in Spanish.
Source: BBC
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