A document from the former CESID recently declassified indicates that the service considered valid that the then head of State, Juan Carlos de Borbón, held conversations with lieutenant general Jaime Milans del Bosch before the attempted coup d'état of February 23, 1981, with the objective of “protecting the Crown”.
The report, included in the set of files made public by the Government, contextualizes these contacts within the climate of political and military instability that preceded the 23-F. According to the text, the interlocution would be framed within a strategy aimed at preserving the monarchical institution in the face of possible crisis scenarios.
The documentation is part of the declassified materials about the failed coup, which are allowing to know internal assessments and analyses of the intelligence services in the months prior to and after the events.
The old CESID —predecessor of the current Centro Nacional de Inteligencia— played a key role in monitoring movements and contacts within the Armed Forces during that period of special institutional tension.
The publication of these documents continues to broaden the historical and political debate surrounding 23-F, by offering new documentary pieces that contribute to nuance the interpretation of one of the most relevant episodes of the Spanish Transition.
