Adolfo Suárez, father of Spanish democracy, dies at age 81

The first prime minister of the democratic era, the man who guided the transformation of Spain after the Franco dictatorship, passed away in Madrid on Sunday

King Juan Carlos and Prime Mininster Adolfo Suárez, pictured in 1976. / MARISA FLÓREZ

Adolfo Suárez, Spain’s first prime minister following the Franco dictatorship, the man who spearheaded a rocky but successful transition to democracy by legalizing the outlawed Socialist and Communist parties and the labor unions, died on Sunday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 81.

The former prime minister had been suffering from the disease for the past decade and had not appeared in public since 2003, when he attended a political rally for his son, Adolfo Suárez Illana.

On Friday, a tearful Suárez Illana announced at a news conference at the Cemtro de Madrid clinic that physicians had given his father no more than 48 hours to live. "The disease has progressed a lot and everything indicates that the end is imminent," he said.

The elder Suárez had been taken to the clinic on Monday suffering from a respiratory infection.

History will remember Suárez for his bravery in standing up to a gang of Civil Guard officers who tried to take over the young Spanish government in an attempted coup on February 23, 1981. Led by Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, the armed men stormed into Congress the day lawmakers were voting on the prime minister’s successor, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo.

As deputies ducked for cover when Tejero and his men began firing their weapons, a stoic Suárez remained calmly seated without even flinching. The entire event was captured by television news cameras.

King Juan Carlos looks on as Adolfo Suárez is sworn in 1976. / EL PAÍS

Born in Cebreros, Ávila province, Suárez studied law at the University of Salamanca. He held several top government posts during Francisco Franco’s regime.

In 1976, months following the death of Francisco Franco, King Juan Carlos had asked Suárez to take over as prime minister from Carlos Arías Navarro – the dictator’s last prime minister – and organize free elections. The monarch’s choice didn’t sit well with many leftists because Suárez had held various Cabinet posts under Franco, including minister of the National Movement – the only legal political organization during the dictatorship.

A mastered negotiator, Suárez ruffled feathers in the military and among the far-right after he invited Socialist leader Felipe González, who had been living in Paris, and Santiago Carrillo, the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) chief who was in Moscow, also in exile, to join the democratic process.

To read more, click here

Adolfo Suárez (El País in English) 

Adolfo Suárez (BBC News) 

Rest in peace Mr President.