1981


Spain was aware that Suárez had done lots of things wrong lately, that was why he had resigned and now they were voting for his successor, but he was going to miss him so much. They looked at each other and Suárez smiled at him. This was not the end of their relationship, of course. Suárez had promised him they would still keep in touch, have drinks together. But Spain was used to work with him and now he would have to get to know another man, this...uhm...

"What was his name again?" he asked the man by his side.

"Calvo Sotelo."

"Wait, didn't they kill that man in 1936?"

"Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo."

"Ah. Yeah. Thanks."

It was not that he wasn't interested in their names. It was just that he had never had as many people in the government for such a short period of time. It was difficult to him to remember so many names, as hard as he tried.

"Manuel Núñez Encabo."

This one as a socialist, if Spain was not mistaken. Oh, well, was that important?

He was distracted by the noise of a door bursting open. A man with a mustache, dressed with the Civil Guard uniform, three-cornered hat included, came into the room. He glanced around and climbed the stairs to the tribune.

"Nobody move!" he exclaimed.

The present people glanced at each other with great confusion. Spain stood up. More guards came into the room, blocking the exits. One more person got up from his seat and was brave enough to walk to them, not listening to Suárez, who was asking him to stay in his seat: it was the vice-president and lieutenant Gutiérrez Mellado.

"Who is your commander?" he demanded to know, looking directly at that man's face. "From who are you receiving orders?!"

"Sit down! I'm telling you to sit down!" the man with the mustache replied. He had a pistol in his hand.

But Mellado wasn't going to obey, he was the highest rank in there. So the civil guards tossed him around.

"Eh!" Spain complained.

"Leave him alone!" Suárez exclaimed, extending his arm to Mellado.

"Get out of here! Everyone get down on the floor! On the floor!"

No words could have been more convincing than the burst of shots aimed to the ceiling and the press tribune. All those heads quickly hid under the seats.

"Sit down, damn it!"

All except Santiago Carrillo, president of the PCE, Suárez, Mellado—and Spain himself, who was still standing up. After all, it was him the one they were after.

And, indeed, while those men destroyed the cameras in the room and silenced the journalists who were broadcasting the session, the man with the mustache walked to him.

"Mr. Spain..."

"Yeah...I think I know what this is..."


«We are here on live to give you the latest news from Madrid. The situation inside of the House of Congress is still uncertain. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has asked all civil authorities to be on alert. The nation is inside of the building!»


One by one, the hostages return to their seat. No one dared to speak, not even mutter. One of the assailants went to the speaker's podium and announced:

"You will have to wait until the military authority shows up. Stay in your seats and calm down."

"So I guess I have no authority here..." Spain gazed at the man with the mustache.

No response from him, who stood firm.

"Please, I can't take this anymore!" one of the congresswomen exclaimed.

"Shut up!" was those men's answer. A young captain even aimed at her with his submachine gun.

"Please, she is pregnant with twins, let her go" Spain spoke directly to the man in front of him.

"Let her go!" he exclaimed, and, like moments later she was escorted out of the room, like they did with some of the civilians present.

Not listening to the men who ordered him to stay in his seat, Suárez climbed the stairs to reunite with Spain.

"What is this all about?"

"Go back to your seat" the man replied.

"As the President, I demand to speak to whoever is in charge here."

"You are no longer president of anything."

"Sit down, damn it!" somebody yelled.

"He is" Spain faced the civil guard. "And I also want to know who you are and who is in charge."

"I am lieutenant-colonel Antonio Tejero. You can address me."

"Lieutenant Tejero, I demand an explanation."

"The explanation is simple, Mr. Spain: this folly has gone too far."

"Are you talking about democracy and freedom?"

"You have gone mad, completely mad. You are letting people do what they want with your house, with us...You let these rascals destroy what always worked...There are no jobs now...We are penniless...Everybody makes a fool of you...And you let them!"

"So is that what all of this is about? Going back to the old times? To Franco's designs?" Spain frowned.

"He wanted the best for you and you threw all of his hard work away—and ignore all these people who are dying..."

"Their deaths are hurting me more than you can imagine, lieutenant..."

"You have nothing to hold against him!" Suárez grunted.

Tejero frowned, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room.

"Adolfo!" Spain exclaimed.

He followed them, but was stopped by some more guards.

"You stay here, Mr. Spain."

"Hell, no! Adolfo!"

"We are doing this for your own good..." the captain who stopped him told him in low voice.

"For my own good..." Spain grunted, and the man looked away with an expression of shame.


«In the name of the European Economic Community and as the nation of Netherlands, I completely condemn the coup d'etat against Spain and wish this is solved as soon as possible with no injured.»

«Yeah, well, the attack on the House of Congress is a domestic issue Spain has to solve himself...»

«America, you bloody ungrateful manky wanker! A domestic issue? Are you fucking serious? This concerns us all! This is an outrage! This is terrorism! Me and my government will not tolerate this, and if we have to send our army, we will!»


They took some other men out: Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra, from the PSOE, Santiago Carrillo, the minister of Defense, Rodríguez Sahagún and Mellado. Were they going to kill them? Spain didn't hear shots, but he had these chills in his back...

"Tanks have taken over Valencia, aiming at the Courts and the Town Hall" he was informed by lieutenant Ramos Rueda. "Captain-general has declared the state of exception. From now on, he is the president."

"He will only be if I legitimize him" Spain harshly said, "and I will do that when hell freezes over..."

"But your number 2 will. The king will have no other choice but to accept our conditions. The army is with us."

"After all we've been through to get our freedom..." Spain shook his head slowly.

"The lieutenant told you: this was a mistake..." Ramos walked away, leaving Spain alone.

He closed his eyes and breathed deep.

"It's okay, everyone!" he claimed so everyone could hear. "Everything will be alright!"

Would it? He wasn't that sure...If the whole army was on those people's side and there was no government...Juan Carlos could save his skin by handing him to those men...

He thought this time maybe...maybe...

Oh, it was surely too good to be true!


«Good night, ladies and gentlemen. We have just been informed that an assault to the headquarters of Radio and Television has been frustrated. The rebels apparently tried to spread the message that the coup d'etat was a success. However, here we have declarations from the Captaincy General of Madrid and Granada showing their loyalty to Spain, the King and the Constitution. Hold on, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has just declared that a provisional government has just been formed.»

«Do we know something about Spain, Magdalena?»

«Unfortunately no, there are no news from our dear Antonio.»


"Sit down, Mr. Spain" one of the assaulters asked Spain. "We can bring you something to eat, if you want to."

Spain raised an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me?" he grumbled.

It was then when the doors opened and someone came in. A general. Spain wanted to approach, but they didn't let him. The man talked to Tejero privately.

"I come in the name of the King to stop this madness and propose a solution."

Why did they leave him out, being the nation? If there were negotiations going on, he had to be present, he...

It seemed it was over, then. This was the end of his freedom. He had no power now, not even over himself. Barely fives years he could taste it...Back to be controlled by others again...

"My general: I did not assault the Congress for this" Tejero exclaimed.

And the man who came in was kicked out, so violently Spain thought for a moment they were going to shoot at him.


"But is Spain alright?"

"We are not sure. Those who were let out say there were no injured but..."

"Alright, let's go. This has to end now, before someone gets hurt..."

"You'll be on air in three, two, one..."


«I address the Spanish people with brevity and concision. In the face of these exceptional circumstances, I ask for your serenity and trust, and I hereby inform you that I have given the Captains General of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force the following order: given the events taking place in the Palace of Congress, and to avoid any possible confusion, I hereby confirm that I have ordered the Civil Authorities and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to take any and all necessary measures to uphold constitutional order within the limits of the law. Should any measure of a military nature need to be taken, it must be approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Crown, symbol of the permanence and unity of the nation, will not tolerate, in any degree whatsoever, the actions or behavior of anyone attempting, through use of force, to interrupt the democratic process of the Constitution, which the Spanish People approved by vote in referendum.»


"The ladies can leave the room. In order and in silence."

Tejero was nervous. After that last phone call, he did nothing but walk around the room. Like pondering on something. Bad news, Spain thought. He focused on his won feelings and perhaps it was due to being locked up in there so long, seeing that the Civil Guard was not going to shoot at anybody, bored, tired, but he found himself very calm and collected. And following this feeling, he approached Tejero.

"Sir..."

Tejero turned to him. His eyebrows furrowed.

"...I am doing this for you. All of this, all of this we are doing...is for you..." he said to him.

"I know. And you have no idea of how tired I am of it" Spain replied.

A long pause.

"Surrender now, lieutenant."

"I cannot do that."

"I will make sure you and your men have a fair trial."

"I gave my word of honor."

"That doesn't matter, lieutenant."

"Yes, you don't care about it anymore, but I do...When everything is crumbling around you..."

"Let me tell you this, from Antonio to Antonio: there are things which are more important than honor, discipline and glory..."

He looked at the man, eye to eye.

"...Even more important than me."

"Lieutenant..." a guard called Tejero.

And he turned his back on Spain and got out of the room. The nation sighed and walked around.

"Why wasn't I born a kitty? They don't have these troubles..." he muttered, running a hand on his face.

Whatever Tejero had to do outside, it took him long.

First, Suárez, Carrillo, González, Guerra, Mellado and Rodríguez returned to the room. Spain felt such relief he practically ran to them.

"Did they...?"

"It's alright. We're fine" Carrillo smiled, and González patted his back.

Tejero reappeared soon later.

"Everybody...can leave..."

Spain sighed in relief.

"Thank Jesus..." he muttered.


Outside, the press was crowded together to film the exit of the congressmen and the Civil Guard, who were immediately put under arrest. They tried to interview the hostages, and get a photograph of the assaulters. The reporters who were forced to stay had excellent testimony to publish as soon as they got out; some of them managed to hide their recorders and rolls and were ready to share them with the whole world.

"What will become of them?"

Suárez glanced at Spain with a smile, expelling the smoke of the cigarette he was smoking.

"Do you care?"

"Yeah..." Spain muttered.

"You are too nice."

"Mr. Spain!"

Spain turned around to find one of Juan Carlos' assistants.

"The king has been very worried and asked me to come pick you up."

It was then when Spain was told of what Juan Carlos had done: the speech, how he made the army obey him. You are with Spain or you are against Spain, he basically told them. And they didn't follow those rebels. It seemed Spain had some authority after all, and Juan Carlos was not the frontman many said he was.

"Mr. Spain, good to see you. Are you alright?"

So when Spain finally saw him, the first thing he did was to hug him.

"You can call me Antonio, you sure earned it..."


The night from 23th of February to 24th, 1981, is known as The Night of Transistor Radios. All of Spain was glued to their televisions and radios to hear what was happening inside of the Congress. It seemed democracy was going to die soon after being born. A group of 200 civil guards, with lieutenant Antonio Tejero as the leader, took over the building for eighteen hours when Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was being voted as president, after Adolfo Suárez was forced to resign because of the unstable situation of the country and his political party. This power vacuum was going to be used to perpetrate a coup'état, with a military occupation of Valencia. Also, one of the generals, Armada, tried to convince the King and Tejero to accept a new type of government, an alternative to what had been democratically voted, but nor Juan Carlos nor Tejero accepted.

The causes of this revolution were not only a rebellion from far-right members of the army, who lost influence after the death of Franco and the arrival of the democracy, but also the legalization of the communist party, PCE, the autonomy given to Catalonia and Basque Country, Spain giving Morocco its share of the Sahara, the economic crisis, with 20% unemployment rate and the increasing violence of the E.T.A. terrorists, mostly directed to the Civil Guard, the military and politicians.

The army, called to revolution, was unsure of what to do, whether to join the rebels or obey their authority, until king Juan Carlos I appeared on television to deliver a very clear message, asking them to obey him, and since then the coup d'état was considered a failure. First, the troops in Valencia surrendered, and Tejero had to desist. Due to the conditions of his rendition, no person under the rank of captain was judged. He was sentenced to 30 years of prison. He is out of jail now and he has been last seen in 2019, protesting the moving of Franco's remains from the Valley of the Fallen. His photo at the tribune earned the National Press Prize and the World Press Photo of that year and has become an icon of this event.

A movie was made in 2011 about this event, also a short series for the television in 2009, and it was also adapted into a theatrical piece by Jorge Moreno. If you ever visit the Congress (it is open to the public in December), you can still see the shots in the ceiling.

There was a lot of controversy about this for two reasons. On one hand, the United States and the Vatican were supposedly informed of what was about to happen, and the first did not condemn the coup d'etat until it was over (unlike the European Union and specially United Kingdom). Also, it has been said that it was all orchestrated by Juan Carlos I to legitimize his power. His image was indeed benefited from this—until now, when a series of scandals concerning his infidelities, safaris in Africa and corruption have blackened his name.