Luis Carrero Blanco has been Franco's shadow and his life is one of the most mysterious in the Spanish history of the twentieth century. He always seemed to be a minor figure. He was from the middle-class, had little ambition but had an important working capacity and above all, he was absolutely loyal to Franco. Without being Franco's friend, he was however more than a simple counsellor. After more than twenty years of working in Franco's shadow, Carrero Blanco had at last a political part as a key figure: he was nominated vice-president of the government in 1967 and finally became president in 1973. However, ETA assassinated Carrero Blanco in December 1973 on his way back from church. The exceptional violence of the attack would forever be engraved in every Spaniard's memory.
[...] It is true that just a few authors have analysed the assassination of Carrero Blanco as an affirmation of power on the Spanish political scene. However, I do think this event has been decisive in the development of the terrorist organisation. ETA targeted an important symbol of the Francoist regime, thus it drained even more sympathy from the Spanish populace, and by using significant logistic means, which were not necessary at all, it asserted itself as one of the movements the government will have to deal during the transition. [...]
[...] Even though he was in exile, Luís Carrero Blanco started his political career in the civil war. Despite the fact that he was not a man of great ambition, his behaviour as a traditional catholic and monarchist brought him to the Opus Dei. Even though he was not a member of this order, he kept close relationships with some of the Opus Dei members, and this played an important part in the conservative aspect of Franco's regime. Luís Carrero Blanco seemed sometimes to be more francoist than Franco himself. [...]
[...] Moreover, what may seem a paradox is that when there was a liberalisation of any king under Franco, it was an economic one and in fact, it was Carrero Blanco who participated, in a certain way, in the Spanish economic development[14]. Furthermore, his main mission was to ensure Franco's succession to monarchy, and he was the main support of Don Juan Carlos. He even identified sometimes some elements that cannot help the regime to progress (not in a political way), such as the lecturer López Rodó. [...]
[...] I believe that the assassination of Carrero Blanco had important consequences in the Spanish political life. The cause the organisation defended was drawing sympathy from the Spaniards. This sympathy lasted for some time after the attack. However, when the transition came and when people were once able to analyse the consequences of this attack and to witness several other attacks against Spanish civilians or officials of the democratic government, this sympathy turned into loathing. ETA became the public enemy, and even in the Basque country, its policy does not appeal that much anymore. [...]
[...] The assassination of Carrero Blanco was a symbol against Franco's regime, especially because it was concerning its strongest nucleus, even though that of a second plan. Attacking Franco would have been too difficult and furthermore, one of the reasons Franco nominated Carrero at the position of president in 1973 was because he was very sick and did not seem to be able to play a role of power anymore but that of representation. Killing Carrero Blanco was a symbol against Franco's dictatorship and seemed to represent, at the time, a claim for democracy. [...]
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