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THE Spanish Government has pledged to divulge all the secrets of one of most dramatic moments from the modern history.
Prime minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed on Monday that his government will declassify all documents related to the failed coup d’état of February 1981 that threatened to hurl Spain back into the arms of dictatorship.
In Spain, this incident is known as 23-F. Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Tejero led 200 armed Guardia Civil members to storm the Madrid parliament during the investiture ceremony of Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, a centre-right politician.
The officers took MPs as hostages for 18-hours before King Juan Carlos gave a powerful speech in support of democracy and the rule of Law.
Sanchez, writing on X in conjunction with the 45th Anniversary of the coup try, said: “Memory is not something that can be hidden away.” Tomorrow we will release the 23-F files to settle an historic debt owed by our citizens.
READ MORE: ON THIS DAY: The inside story of the failed coup d’état that almost sent Spain spinning back into dictatorship
“Democracies need to know their history in order for them to create a more free future.” “Thank you to those who paved the way.”
The papers will be published in the Official State Gazette on Wednesday. All files related to this coup attempt can be viewed on the La Moncloa site.
Culture minister Ernest Urtasun hailed the move as a ‘first step’ towards greater transparency but called for greater reform of the ‘Francoist’ and ‘outdated’ Official Secrets Law, passed in 1968 under the dictatorship.
The government is working on a new Classified Information Law, which would replace Franco’s secrecy laws and automatically declassify documents after a specific date. However, this legislation remains in parliamentary debate.
Opposition politicians argued that the move was a deliberate distraction from domestic conflicts.
READ MORE: The man that tried to become dictator of Spain now lives a quiet retirement on Costa del Sol
Ester Muñoz, a spokesperson for the conservative Partido Popular (PP), wrote on social media: “Let’s do the smokescreen for the day. The steps to total collapse are being completed.”
Historians are hopeful that the newly-released papers will shed light on military involvement in the coup attempt. The rebellion was led by Jaime Milans del Bosch and 2,000 men, with fifty tanks.
These files can also reveal if there are any wider political or institution sympathies.
Some historians believe Juan Carlos I wrote two separate speeches – one in support of the coup and one against – and only chose which one to read out on live television once he had caught a glimpse of the prevailing public mood.
Archives may provide answers to questions such as what intelligence services were aware of prior to the coup or the exact role that Tejero, among other generals and leaders in the army played.
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