After the 23-F coup attempt, only about thirty people involved in the uprising were tried, many of whom received full or partial pardons, or obtained reduced sentences and early release in the following years. Despite the gravity of the events, the Spanish government and part of the establishment argued that, after consolidating democracy, it was necessary to reduce tensions with the army.

On February 23, 1981, General Alfonso Armada entered Congress with a vision of a "national salvation government" and left under arrest after the coup attempt failed, due in part to infighting among the coup plotters. According to accounts published since then, that government would have included Armada himself as Prime Minister, along with the socialists Felipe González (Economic Vice President), Gregorio Peces-Barba (Justice), Javier Solana (Transport), and Enrique Múgica (Health); the communist deputies Jordi Solé Tura (Labor) and Ramón Tamames (Economy); from the UCD (Union of the Democratic Centre) Pío Cabanillas (Finance), José Luis Álvarez (Public Works), Miguel Herrero Rodríguez de Miñón (Education and Science), and Agustín Rodríguez (Industry); and from the Popular Alliance, Manuel Fraga (Defense) and Manuel Saavedra (Interior). Among those present were other military officers such as José Antonio Sáenz de Santamaría (Minister of Autonomy and Regions) and representatives of civil society, including the former Francoist minister José María López de Letona (Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs), Carlos Ferrer Salat (Minister of Commerce), Antonio Garrigues Walker (Minister of Culture), and Luis María Anson (Minister of Information).