The storming of Spain's parliament

Witness History

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In February 1981, armed Civil Guards tried to take control of the Spanish parliament.

A total of 350 politicians were held hostage for 18 hours in the debating chamber including Joaquin Almunia, a young Socialist MP.

In 2021, he spoke to Claire Bowes.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Picture: Colonel Antonio Tejero attempts to take over the Spanish parliament with the Guardia Civil. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	I'm no longer ravenous. I'll no longer eat until I fall asleep.
0:11.0	The Hunger Game, a new five-part series exploring the meteoric rise of weight loss drugs.
0:16.0	It's been an incredible story with these drugs.
0:18.1	The uptake, the amount of product that's been sold, the amount of money is cost. What the drugs do, how they work, and the knock-on effects of their widespread
0:26.0	use. We'll be sitting here in three years' time going, oh, it caused problems that we're now
0:31.2	going to have to fix. The Hunger Game with me, Professor Gilesio. Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:43.2	Thank you. me, Professor Gilesio. Listen first on BBC Sounds. Hi, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service.
0:47.6	Now, if this is one of your favourite podcasts already, you can skip ahead a little bit.
0:51.8	But if you're listening for the very first time, welcome.
0:55.0	We're the podcast that takes you back to a moment in history by speaking to those who are there.
1:00.3	Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday.
1:03.9	If that sounds like something you'd listen to, hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts
1:08.8	and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode.
1:13.0	It's 45 years since Spanish MPs were taken hostage in an attempted coup. Claire Bose is
1:19.1	taking you back to Spain in February 1981, just six years after the end of decades of military rule
1:25.7	under General Franco. And in the Spanish Parliament in Madrid,
1:29.6	350 MPs have gathered to vote in a new prime minister.
1:33.7	It was a very important day because the appointment,
1:37.1	the vote of a new prime minister is always a very important thing.
1:42.3	And in particular, when our democratic institutions were still
1:46.0	very weak.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.