National
Madrid says goodble to Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
By h.b. - May 5, 2008 - 2:45 PM
email this article |
The ex Spanish Prime Minister, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, has died.
He was 82 and suffered an unexpected heart attack on Saturday.
History will see Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as one of the main founders of the transition to democracy in Span, and many have already paid their respects with a chapel of rest established in the Spanish Congress on Sunday.
That closed at 9am this morning and now the body will be taken in funeral procession, escorted by a battalion made up from the three Spanish armed forces. The National Anthem will be played at the Puerta de los Leones before the body is moved to the nearby Plaza de Neptuno for a short service before being taken from the Torrejón de Ardoz airbase at 11,30am to the Asturias airport and from there to Ribadeo in Lugo at 2pm.
There a new chapel of rest will be opened until 6pm and finally a mass will be held in the parish church of Santa María do Campo before the body is buried in the town Ribadeo.
All the acts are open to the public, at the wishes of the family.
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo was seen as an accidental Prime Minister, given his leadership qualities were scarce. But he was an intelligent, able, honest, loyal and conciliating politician. He was elected on Feb 25 1981 in a second round of voting and after congress had survived the famous attempted coup from General Tejero.
He was the man who headed Spain’s transition from the Adolfo Suárez and Felipe González governments, taking over from Suárez in the middle of the legislature.
King Juan Carlos paid tribute by saying ‘A grand Spaniard has died, A grand man of State, A democrat’. The King made his comments yesterday as he made his last goodbye, at a ceremony in Congress also attended by the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and the highest authorities of state.
A full state funeral will be held in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid on Thursday.
MORE RELATED ARTICLES :
• State funeral for previous Spanish Prime Minister - May 9, 2008 - 8:26 AM
• Ribadeo says goodbye to their most famous local son - May 6, 2008 - 7:28 AM