A newly declassified document from the German Foreign Ministry archive contains revealing new information about the failed 1981 coup in Spain. According to the report, Spanish King Juan Carlos apparently showed sympathy for the plotters in a private conversation with the German ambassador.

In a normal year, Feb. 23 is a good day for Spanish King Juan Carlos. On that day, Spaniards commemorate the putsch attempt of 1981 and celebrate their monarch as the savior of the then-young democracy. At the time, dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, who had ruled the country since 1939, had only been dead for five years and three months. His most ardent followers among the military brass were set on re-imposing military rule in the country. But Juan Carlos stood in their way.

But 2012 is no normal year. At the moment, the king's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín is being tried before a court in Palma de Mallorca. The husband of the king's youngest daughter Cristina, he stands accused of having embezzled several million euros, together with others, as head of a foundation. What's more, a survey conducted by a social research institute last October indicated that, for the first time, there has been a considerable decline in people's faith in the monarchy. In any case, it shows that 47 million Spaniards have primarily supported Juan Carlos himself rather than the monarchy as an institution.

And now, at the worst possible moment, a document has emerged that casts a shadow on the sparkling image of this supposedly flawless democrat in the Spanish royal family.

'No Indication Of Antipathy Or Outrage'

The man who wrote the document was Lothar Lahn, who served as Germany's ambassador to Spain between 1977 and 1982 and was well-liked by Juan Carlos. On the evening of March 26, 1981, the then-43-year-old king invited the diplomat, 16 years his senior, to his residence, Madrid's Zarzuela Palace, for a private conversation. The meeting had been called to discuss the upcoming visit of Germany's president to Spain. But Juan Carlos quickly brought the conversation around to the failed coup attempt of Feb. 23, revealing how he really felt about it: He was quite sympathetic.