Spain, 1980 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 25 January 1980, during the climate of military and far-right conspiracy against Spain's fragile young democracy, in the interval between the failed November 1978 Operacion Galaxia and the 23-F coup attempt of February 1981. After Operacion Galaxia was foiled and its leader Antonio Tejero given only a light sentence, seditious sentiments grew in sectors of the military and the extreme right. The governing UCD coalition under Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez faced a serious crisis, with high unemployment, capital flight, and inflation, and its position became increasingly untenable in the course of 1980.
Several coup attempts and conspiracies got underway during this turbulent period; the Spanish secret service sent both the government and the royal palace a 1980 report on ongoing operations to overthrow Suarez. The 25 January 1980 coding sits in this 1980 climate of military plotting against the Suarez government that would culminate in the 23-F assault on the Cortes.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
23001251980
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The Suarez government and Spanish democracy survived; the plotting culminated in the failed 23-F coup of February 1981.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Irish Times
The Guardian
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →