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Juan Carlos I was not Spain’s saviour

<span>Photograph: John Thys/Belga/AFP/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: John Thys/Belga/AFP/Getty Images

It really is time to put to rest the myth that Juan Carlos I saved Spain (Spain’s scandal-hit former king Juan Carlos to go into exile, 3 August). Your report says: “Juan Carlos played a pivotal role in restoring democracy to Spain following the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975, not least when he stood firm in the face of an attempted military coup in 1981.”

If Carlos had supported the coup, as he had been groomed to do by the dictator General Franco, how likely is it that Spain would have a monarchy now, in 2020? In a country heartily tired of the dictatorship and seeking to join Nato and the European Economic Community, Carlos was advised by cooler heads to (belatedly) oppose the coup, save the monarchy and become a national hero in the bargain. In hindsight, it might have been better if he had supported the coup. The military regime would have lasted only months, the republic would have been restored, and the imperfect post-Franco constitution of 1978 might have been replaced by something far more democratic.
Bill Phillips
Barcelona, Spain