By Shelagh Fogarty

One of the most dramatic news stories I can remember as a child is the armed invasion of the Spanish parliament in 1981 by a senior civil guard and 200 of his supporters.

General Antonio Tejero was his name. All bar one defiant MP, leapt below their chairs for dear life and for twenty two hours Tejero held Spain’s elected politicians hostage and the fate of their country in a terrifying headlock.

Here at home in the UK we were gearing up for the wedding of the century, Charles and Diana’s nuptials, while the place we relied on for a sunny holiday was on the brink of who knew what?

Enter the young King Juan Carlos, just six years into his reign. He held firm, took to the airwaves to urge the armed forces to stay loyal to him to continue on the path of democracy. They did. The siege ended. Tejero was jailed for thirty years and well, Viva España!

This weekend marks 50 years since........

© LBC