Spain celebrated 25 years of democratic rule today, marking the day free elections formally put an end on June 15, 1977 to General Franco's 40-year dictatorship - almost two years after his death.
Four consecutive heads of government were present at the ceremony in the Spanish lower-house Congress of Deputies: Adolfo Suarez, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Felipe Gonzalez and current Prime Minster Jose Maria Aznar.
The ceremony also included many prominent figures who helped shape democracy in Spain. Aznar told journalists these 25 years would "become a reference point in the process of a prosperous, modern Spain that is open to the world".
His predecessor Gonzalez called them the best 25 years in Spanish history since the 18th century. The 1977 elections that lifted Spain into the era of democracy had been won by Suarez' Christian Democrats, the UDC. Suarez quit politics in 1981.
AFP