Thursday, February 23, 2006

Look at "Arthur Askey"

25 years ago (in 1981) there was an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Spain. 

I've always liked the story about the King going on tele and telling the Guardia and Army to get back to barracks but my favourite character in all this is the balding chap at the bottom right of the photo with his back to us, the one who looks like Arthur Askey. He was called General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado and he was deputy PM at the time. 

When Lt. Colonel Tejero, the man with the patent leather hat and the pistol, told him to get on the floor, unlike nearly all the other MPs, Gutiérrez refused and he told the Lieutenant Colonel, in no uncertain terms where to stick his pistol. He pointed out that he was a General and outranked Tejero to whom he gave the order to surrender. In the end all Tejero could do was to ignore the General. 

 Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado must have been one tough cookie.

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