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One could argue that this is a classic pronunciamiento, where a military commander makes a political statement with no intention of actually taking arms if the government does not act on it and there is not wide support within the armed forces, but in that case Mena is over 100 years out of date.

I've always thought this was a possiblity when Sanz Roldan made the statement about the unity of Spain being a logical preoocupation of the military, which was similiar to the statement here.

I see you've taken to my meme, but I want to stress once again that it is not that they are out of power for the first time since 1936 (see 1982-1996) but that the political tension is at a level that has not been seen since the 1930's (or maybe the 1975-78 if you want to be less dramatic and sound more optimistic).

Yes, I took to your meme.  And I think the difference between this and the 14 years of Felipsmo is the enduring myth of March 11, and the willingess of Zapatero to attack the wounds of the Civil War, removing the staute of Franco, etc.
And between the Estatut and the failed attempt to force an "autonomy" (indepence) referendum in the Basque counry there's a real sense that Spain's unity is threatened in a way that hasn't been true since the passage of the autonomy statutes in 78-81, or more darkly, 1936.  

The enduring myth of March 11th allows the right to believe that they had their country stolen from them by Basque terrorists working with Muslims to undermine Spain.  It's shades of the era before the Reconquest when the Basques collaborated with the taifa states on the peninula against their fellow Christians.


And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jan 8th, 2006 at 10:07:14 PM EST
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