Fernando de Santiago y Díaz
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The Most Excellent Fernando de Santiago y Díaz |
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85th Prime Minister of Spain 2nd of Democratic Transition (1975–1977) |
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In office July 1, 1976 – July 3, 1976 |
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| Monarch | Juan Carlos I |
| Vice President | Juan-Miguel Villar Mir |
| Preceded by | Carlos Arias Navarro |
| Succeeded by | Adolfo Suárez |
| Governor-General of the Spanish Sahara | |
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In office March 4, 1971 – April 24, 1974 |
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| Preceded by | José María Pérez de Lerma |
| Succeeded by | Federico Gómez de Salazar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil July 23, 1910 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | November 6, 1994 (aged 84) Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spain |
| Political party |
Falange (1936-1980) Movimiento Nacional |
| Spouse(s) | San Fermín de los Navarros |
| Children | 5 |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Commands | Superior Polytechnic Army College |
Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil (July 23, 1910 – November 6, 1994) was a conservative deputy and interim prime minister of Spain during the Spanish transition to democracy in the late 1970s. He had earlier been a general in the Spanish Civil War and under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
As an active soldier, Santiago participated in the Second Moroccan War in the 1920s and threw in with the Spanish Nationalists in the 1936 Civil War, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. During the Franco regime, he served as a professor and later director of the Escuela Politécnica Superior del Ejército (Superior Polytechnic Army College).
In the waning years of Franco's rule, from March 4, 1971 to April 24, 1974, the dictator gave Santiago a task as political as it was military: serve as governor-general of Spanish Sahara after Spanish forces had massacred members of a native independence movement in the "Zemla Intifada". Santiago presided over the introduction of limited home-rule in the region, which was eventually decolonized a few years later.
Following the dictator's death, November 20, 1975, Santiago was named Vicepresidente del Gobierno para la Defensa (deputy prime minister for defense) of Spain's first post-Franco government, under Prime Minister Carlos Arias Navarro. Following Arias' resignation, Santiago briefly served as interim prime minister, July 1-July 3, 1976.
Under the administration of Adolfo Suárez, Santiago remained the principal deputy prime minister but gave up oversight of the defense ministry. While Arias Navarro had been considered a Francoist, Suárez would turn out to be a reformer, putting Spain on the road to democracy. Santiago would become a harsh critic of Suárez' government. He submitted a resignation letter shortly after Suárez announced he would support the Ley para la Reforma Political (Political Reform Law) and its call for open elections; his resignation was accepted September 21, 1976.
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