"According to the widely accepted version, the coup ended up being thwarted by the public television broadcast by the King, calling for unambiguous support for the legitimate democratic government. In the hours before his speech, he had personally called many senior military figures to tell them that he was opposed to the coup, and that they had to defend the democratic government. However, some authors (like Ronald Hilton) cast doubt over the King's role in the events. According to the explanation offered by Patricia Sverlo, author of a biography of Juan Carlos, the coup was actually organized by the Spanish establishment to neutralize the risk of a real coup by the army, moderate the left wingers' reformist demands, and increase Juan Carlos's popularity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlo ... e_monarchy
Hm, alltid "etablisemanget" som ligger bakom...