ABSTRACT
From the elections of 1979 until his resignation in January 1981, Suárez’s rule was in stark contrast to the apparently unending series of triumphs of the period 1976-7. There was a dramatic decline too in contrast with the period 1977-9 during which, despite the attrition of ETA and ultra hostility, major legislative achievements had been carried through. After 1979, however, the continuing failure to solve the overwhelming economic and social problems that beset Spain, along with terrorism and military subversion, took its toll. The press began to talk more and more of widespread desencanto or disenchantment with Suárez and UCD. It was inevitable perhaps that this would be reflected in a generalized disappointment that democracy had not fulfilled all the expectations put on it. However, the bunker mistakenly concluded that the reduction in popular enthusiasm meant an active rejection of the democratic regime. Plotting was thus intensified in the misplaced confidence that the desencanto of which the media talked somehow implied that, contrary to the evidence of electoral results and opinion polls, the people longed for a return to authoritarian government.
