February 23, 1981: "El 23-F"

Today is the 30th anniversary of the attempt to overthrow the democratic government in Spain, known as "el 23-F" for the date on which is occurred, February 23.  I have never known whether to call this day a "coup" or an "attempted coup," but I have seen both used with alarming interchangeability. On the one hand, it would seem right to call it an attempted coup. After all, no new government was installed and the attempt was, in the end, a failed one. Yet for a day, at least within the confines of the Congreso de los Diputados in Madrid, Spain was held hostage to the demands of the right-wing military golpistas that occupied Congress in their green uniforms and tri-cornered hats. Considering the fact that the attempted coup occurred just 6 years after Franco's death and 3 years after the new Spanish Constitution was passed, el 23-F must have been a terrifying reminder that the past was by no means past (see an overview of the events in this Guardian article from February 23, 1981).

On this day, Spain was about to elect a new prime minister, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (see obituary here); Congress was in session when suddenly, a swarm of civil guards, led by the lieutenant colonel Antonio Tejero, entered the building and began shouting for everyone to get down. Shots were fired -- Congress deputies dove beneath their desks, but a few remained seated (one of whom, Adolfo Suárez, helped provide the spark for Anatomía de un instante/Anatomy of a Moment, Javier Cercas's excellent dissection of that day).

At 1:15 a.m., King Juan Carlos I appeared on TV to defend the Constitution (this aspect of February 23 -- that is, the King's heroism -- has been a matter of fierce debate between those who support the monarchy and those who feel the King, who was put in place by Franco, needs to step aside). Order was eventually restored, and Tejero only served a year under house arrest. The date was a defining moment of the Spanish transition to democracy. The long-standing narrative of the harmonious, bloodless transition to democracy in Spain has been dismantled in recent years, but considered alongside some of the recent events in Egypt, Bahrain and Libya, it is hard not to marvel at the fact that Spain's young democracy was able to survive this day (of course, democracy had already been "in place" for several years in Spain).

Below, a few videos to help illustrate February 23, 1981. All are in Spanish only. I have yet to find a video in English on this day.

Probably the most well-known video sequence of that day:


An interesting re-creation of what was going on outside:


Trailer from a new film on February 23 (official website here):


For more, see special in Público