Word: madrid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Prince lives at state expense in the 20-room Zarzuela Palace, northwest of Madrid, with his wife, Princess Sofia of Greece, and their three children, Elena, 10, Cristina, 9, and Felipe, 6. He regularly receives important officials in Franco's regime at the palace and sometimes members of the "loyal opposition" and moderate liberals. Visitors report that he is better informed and more intelligent than his reputation suggests. His public image reflects the traditional sporting interests of a princeling. He is often photographed wearing his black karate belt or sailing his Dragon-class La Fortuna; he represented Spain...
...celebration of the 38th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War that brought Generalissimo Francisco Franco to power. "The illness from which the head of state has been suffering has today suffered a regression because of gastric complications," said the report from the medical center in Madrid, where Franco has been bedridden for the past two weeks. A few hours later, Franco, 81, formally handed over his powers as chief of state and head of the armed forces to Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón, 36, his chosen successor...
Only the day before, the papers had published pictures of a smiling and apparently hale Franco, and a television film showed him chatting amiably with visitors and journalists. But after the somber bulletin, a special edition of Madrid's evening newspaper Informaciones was snapped up within minutes, and the capital was abuzz with rumors and speculation about Spain's future...
Throughout the week a procession of generals, admirals, ministers and family streamed to Franco's bedside at the modern medical center named for him in Madrid, presumably to show that el Caudillo was still in control. But behind the scenes there was obvious concern for maintaining stability. Cabinet ministers and high military officers met to consider emergency measures in case of Franco's death, and Spain's secret police and paramilitary Civil Guard were put on round-the-clock alert...
...While Franco lives, most Spaniards see no likelihood of political change. But no one can be sure how long that will be. On "good days," he keeps up a reasonable schedule, but at other times he may be completely senile. When Vice President Gerald Ford arrived in Madrid last December, Franco was in such poor shape that it was difficult to arrange a protocol visit. Spanish television recently had to cancel a film that was to have shown the dictator fishing. It was a bad day, and Franco had to be propped up by two aides...