Spanish views from a small town

Yesterday was a special day in history here in Spain, but I only remembered it by a chance remark and by then looking at the calendar. As I have mentioned before, history is not well-thought of here, even recent history that just might repeat itself. The thought of someone walking into the Congreso de los Diputados , the lower house of parliament, and shooting into the air sounds too scary, too possible, and too recent. Because thirty-five years ago that's just what happened.  It was a different Spain in 1981. The forty year dictatorship had come to an end with Franco's death in 1975. A new democracy had just been born and another constitution had just been added to the list of Spanish constitutions in 1978. The monarchy had been restored, along with a multi-party parliament. The Communist Party had been legalized in 1977; the end-all for some who still thought the Soviet Union would one day engulf all Europe. ETA, the Basque separatist group had been planting bombs and killi...